Material Selection for Accident Tolerant Fuel Cladding

Conference · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2015

OSTI ID:1224157

Pint, Bruce A. ^[1]; Terrani, Kurt A. ^[1]; Yamamoto, Yukinori ^[1]; Snead, Lance Lewis ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Alternative cladding materials to Zr-based alloys are being investigated for accident tolerance, which can be defined as > 100X improvement (compared to Zr-based alloys) in oxidation resistance to steam or steam-H₂ environments at ≥ 1200°C for short times. After reviewing a wide range of candidates, current steam oxidation testing is being conducted on Mo, MAX phases and FeCrAl alloys. Recently reported low mass losses for Mo in steam at 800°C could not be reproduced. Both FeCrAl and MAX phase Ti₂AlC form a protective alumina scale in steam. However, commercial Ti₂AlC that was not single phase, formed a much thicker oxide at 1200°C in steam and significant TiO₂, and therefore Ti₂AlC may be challenging to form as a cladding or a coating. Alloy development for FeCrAl is seeking to maintain its steam oxidation resistance to 1475°C, while reducing its Cr content to minimize susceptibility to irradiation-assisted α´ formation. The composition effects and critical limits to retaining protective scale formation at > 1400°C are still being evaluated.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1224157
• Resource Relation: Conference: TMS Annual 2014, San Diego, CA (United States), 17-20 Feb 2014
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ALUMINIUM OXIDES
TITANIUM OXIDES
FUEL CANS
STEAM
OXIDATION
HYDROGEN
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
LOSSES
ACCIDENT-TOLERANT NUCLEAR FUELS
MASS TRANSFER
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
MATERIALS
CORROSION RESISTANCE
MOLYBDENUM
IRON BASE ALLOYS
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM ALLOYS
TERNARY ALLOY SYSTEMS
TEMPERATURE RANGE 1000-4000 K
TITANIUM CARBIDES
ALUMINIUM CARBIDES
LOCA
Mo
FeCrAl
MAX phase
Fuel cladding