There are presently no federal regulations controlling the packaging of low-level radioactive wastes for disposal by shallow land burial. The packaging of low-level radioactive wastes for ocean disposal by the European community has been controlled by guidelines of the Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD. For both methods of disposal, the 55-gallon steel drum has been the most commonly used container. The use of nonmetal packaging has been more common for contaminated trash and other low-level wastes at DOE shallow land burial sites. The life of the disposal container is affected by the structural stresses imposed by the handling and disposal operations, and by deterioration from corrosion in the disposal environment.