The planned duration of isolation of high level nuclear waste from the ecosphere is approximately 10,000 years. For the last ten years programmes on the long-term corrosion resistance of containers of such waste have become increasingly significant to the international community. A workshop devoted to this subject was organised by the European Federation of Corrosion and took place in Cadarache, France, in November 2001. The proceedings are covered in the 36 chapters of this volume and include reports from eight different countries. These approach the problem not only through the use of corrosion tests but also by the development of deterministic and empirical models that are necessary to extrapolate the behaviour of candidate materials. One session was devoted to an analysis of the long-term corrosion of historical and archaeological artefacts, including the famous Delhi pillar, a striking example of the effect that 1600 years of atmospheric exposure can have on a ferrous metal.