Structure of high-burnup-fuel Zircaloy cladding. [PWR; BWR]

Conference · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5914092

Chung, H M

Zircaloy cladding from high-burnup (> 20 MWd/kg U) fuel rods in light-water reactors is characterized by a high density of irradiation-induced defects (RID), compositional changes (e.g., oxygen and hydrogen uptake) associated with in-service corrosion, and geometrical changes produced by creepdown, bowing, and irradiation-induced growth. During a reactor power transient, the cladding is subject to localized stress imposed by thermal expansion of the cracked fuel pellets and to mechanical constraints imposed by pellet-cladding friction. As part of a program to provide a better understanding of brittle-type failure of Zircaloy fuel cladding by pellet-cladding interaction (PCI) phenomenon, the stress-rupture properties and microstructural characteristics of high-burnup spent fuel cladding have been under investigation. This paper reports the results of the microstructural examinations by optical microscopy, scanning (SEM), 100-keV transmission (TEM), and 1 MeV high-voltage (HVEM) electron microscopies of the fractured spent fuel cladding with a specific empahsis on a correlation of the structural characteristics with the fracture behavior.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 5914092
• Report Number(s): CONF-831047-22; ON: DE83014699
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360103 -- Metals & Alloys-- Mechanical Properties
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