Sensitivity of measured steam oxidation kinetics to atmospheric control and impurities

Journal Article · Sat May 14 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Journal of Nuclear Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2016.05.023· OSTI ID:1458927

Sooby Wood, E.  ^[1]; Terrani, K. A. ^[2]; Nelson, A. T.  ^[1]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Nuclear Fuels Materials Group

The most direct means of improving the ability of water cooled reactors to withstand excessive cladding oxidation during a loss of coolant accident is to either modify or replace zirconium cladding. It is important to understand what level of agreement is to be expected as a function of systematic differences in steam oxidation testing techniques and instrumentation among testing facilities. This study was designed to assess the sensitivities of some of the current and proposed reactor cladding materials. Steam oxidation sensitivity of Zircaloy-2, FeCrAl and Mo to O₂ impurities in steam were examined. It was shown that the effect of O₂ impurities is negligible for the two former materials while significant in the case of Mo.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Fuel Cycle Technologies (NE-5)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 1458927
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1323965
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-16-21056; TRN: US1901525
• Journal Information: Journal of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 477, Issue C; ISSN 0022-3115
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS