Materials Challenges in Nuclear Energy

Advanced Oxidation Resistant Iron-Based Alloys for LWR Fuel Cladding

Hydrogen in zirconium alloys: A review

When zirconium alloys are used in water-cooled reactors, they are subjected to waterside corrosion. The emphasis of this chapter is on uniform oxidation and hydrogen embrittlement. The twin processes of oxidation and hydriding are described comprehensively in terms of their underlying mechanisms.

Corrosion of Zirconium Alloys

Ductile-to-Brittle transition temperature for high-burnup cladding alloys exposed to simulated drying-storage conditions

Prestorage drying operations of high-burnup fuel may make Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) fuel cladding more susceptible to failure, especially during fuel handling, transport, and post-storage retrieval. In particular, hydride precipitates may reorient from the circumferential to the radial direction of the cladding during drying operations if a threshold level of hoop stress at or above a corresponding threshold temperature is exceeded. This study indicates that the threshold stress is approximately 75–80 MPa for both nonirradiated and high-burnup stress-relieved Zry-4 fuel cladding cooled from 400°C and, under ring compression at both room temperature and 150°C, that radial-hydride precipitation embrittles Zry-4. Specifically, the plastic tensile hoop strain needed to initiate unstable crack propagation along radial hydrides decreases dramatically from >8% to lt;1% as radial-hydride fraction increases. Lower hydrogen contents (lr;300wppm) appear to be more susceptible to radial-hydride embrittlement compared to hig...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/18811248.2006.9711195

Yung Liu

Papers

Radial-hydride embrittlement of high-burnup zircaloy-4 fuel cladding

High-Burnup Fuel Issues for Long-Term Dry Cask storage and Transportation.