Deep geological disposal of high-level waste (HLW) will subject the container to various challenges, corrosion resistance being one of the most crucial. HLW components lifetimes are typically calculated based on the time-dependent corrosion behavior alone. However, there may be significant interactions between mechanical and corrosion degradation modes that could affect the failure time, which thus calls for further study. Specific R&D work is required to understand the long-term performance controlled by the entire engineered barrier system. Another approach to tackle the corrosion issue is to prevent and/or minimize it either by using materials much less prone to corrosion (e.g., ceramic materials) to fabricate the containers or by applying protective coatings to current selected reference materials. Both ways require selection of the relevant materials and of the fabrication/deposition methods and validation of the materials durability under realistic, accelerated field conditions.