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Title: AREVA NP's enhanced accident-tolerant fuel developments: Focus on Cr-coated M5 cladding

Abstract

AREVA NP (Courbevoie, Paris, France) is actively developing several enhanced accident-tolerant fuels cladding concepts ranging from near-term evolutionary (Cr-coated zirconium alloy cladding) to longterm revolutionary (SiC/SiC composite cladding) solutions, relying on its worldwide teams and partnerships, with programs and irradiations planned both in Europe and the United States. The most advanced and mature solution is a dense, adherent chromium coating on zirconium alloy cladding, which was initially developed along with the CEA and EDF in the French joint nuclear R&D program. The evaluation of the out-of-pile behavior of the Cr-coated cladding showed excellent results, suggesting enhanced reliability, enhanced operational flexibility, and improved economics in normal operating conditions. For example, because chromium is harder than zirconium, the Cr coating provides the cladding with a significantly improved wear resistance. Furthermore, Cr-coated samples exhibit extremely low corrosion kinetics in autoclave and prevents accelerated corrosion in harsh environments such as in water with 70 ppm Li leading to improved operational flexibility. Finally, AREVA NP has fabricated a physical vapor deposition prototype machine to coat full-length cladding tubes. This machine will be used for the manufacturing of full-length lead test rods in commercial reactors by 2019.

Authors:
; ORCiD logo; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Framatome, Inc., Charlotte, NC (United States); AREVA Inc., Lynchburg, VA (United States). Fuel Design
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
OSTI Identifier:
1632989
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1501539
Grant/Contract Number:  
NE0008220
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Published Article
Journal Name:
Nuclear Engineering and Technology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Nuclear Engineering and Technology Journal Volume: 50 Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 1738-5733
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
Korea, Republic of
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; Accident-Tolerant Fuels; Cladding; Cr Coating; Physical Vapor Deposition

Citation Formats

Bischoff, Jeremy, Delafoy, Christine, Vauglin, Christine, Barberis, Pierre, Roubeyrie, Cédric, Perche, Delphine, Duthoo, Dominique, Schuster, Frédéric, Brachet, Jean-Christophe, Schweitzer, Elmar W., and Nimishakavi, Kiran. AREVA NP's enhanced accident-tolerant fuel developments: Focus on Cr-coated M5 cladding. Korea, Republic of: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1016/j.net.2017.12.004.
Bischoff, Jeremy, Delafoy, Christine, Vauglin, Christine, Barberis, Pierre, Roubeyrie, Cédric, Perche, Delphine, Duthoo, Dominique, Schuster, Frédéric, Brachet, Jean-Christophe, Schweitzer, Elmar W., & Nimishakavi, Kiran. AREVA NP's enhanced accident-tolerant fuel developments: Focus on Cr-coated M5 cladding. Korea, Republic of. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2017.12.004
Bischoff, Jeremy, Delafoy, Christine, Vauglin, Christine, Barberis, Pierre, Roubeyrie, Cédric, Perche, Delphine, Duthoo, Dominique, Schuster, Frédéric, Brachet, Jean-Christophe, Schweitzer, Elmar W., and Nimishakavi, Kiran. 2018. "AREVA NP's enhanced accident-tolerant fuel developments: Focus on Cr-coated M5 cladding". Korea, Republic of. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2017.12.004.
@article{osti_1632989,
title = {AREVA NP's enhanced accident-tolerant fuel developments: Focus on Cr-coated M5 cladding},
author = {Bischoff, Jeremy and Delafoy, Christine and Vauglin, Christine and Barberis, Pierre and Roubeyrie, Cédric and Perche, Delphine and Duthoo, Dominique and Schuster, Frédéric and Brachet, Jean-Christophe and Schweitzer, Elmar W. and Nimishakavi, Kiran},
abstractNote = {AREVA NP (Courbevoie, Paris, France) is actively developing several enhanced accident-tolerant fuels cladding concepts ranging from near-term evolutionary (Cr-coated zirconium alloy cladding) to longterm revolutionary (SiC/SiC composite cladding) solutions, relying on its worldwide teams and partnerships, with programs and irradiations planned both in Europe and the United States. The most advanced and mature solution is a dense, adherent chromium coating on zirconium alloy cladding, which was initially developed along with the CEA and EDF in the French joint nuclear R&D program. The evaluation of the out-of-pile behavior of the Cr-coated cladding showed excellent results, suggesting enhanced reliability, enhanced operational flexibility, and improved economics in normal operating conditions. For example, because chromium is harder than zirconium, the Cr coating provides the cladding with a significantly improved wear resistance. Furthermore, Cr-coated samples exhibit extremely low corrosion kinetics in autoclave and prevents accelerated corrosion in harsh environments such as in water with 70 ppm Li leading to improved operational flexibility. Finally, AREVA NP has fabricated a physical vapor deposition prototype machine to coat full-length cladding tubes. This machine will be used for the manufacturing of full-length lead test rods in commercial reactors by 2019.},
doi = {10.1016/j.net.2017.12.004},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1632989}, journal = {Nuclear Engineering and Technology},
issn = {1738-5733},
number = 2,
volume = 50,
place = {Korea, Republic of},
year = {Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2017.12.004

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 118 works
Citation information provided by
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Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1. Fig. 1. : Schematic representation of the Cr-coated zirconium alloy cladding development pr ATF, accident-tolerant fuels; ATR, Advanced Test Reactor; DOE, Department of Energy; HT, high temperature. LFA, Lead Fuel Assembly; LTR, Lead Test Rod.

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Atomic-scale interface structure of a Cr-coated Zircaloy-4 material
journal, April 2018


Oxidation behavior of RF magnetron sputtered Cr–SiC–Cr composites coating on zircaloy fuel cladding
journal, July 2019


Hydrogen Interaction with Deep Surface Modified Zr-1Nb Alloy by High Intensity Ti Ion Implantation
journal, December 2018


Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.