Cladding oxidation during air ingress. Part II: Synthesis of modelling results

Beuzet, E.; Haurais, Florian; Bals, Christine; Coindreau, Olivia; Fernandez-Moguel, Leticia; Vasiliev, A. L.; Park, S.

doi:10.1016/j.anucene.2015.12.031

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Program mock-up test results showed that cladding of fuel assemblies burned violently in air, before finally breaking down (Lindgren and Durbin, 2007;Lindgren and Durbin, 2008). Joint European tests simulating accidental air ingress to the reactor vessel showed that oxidation of fuel cladding was promoted by air ingress, causing severe damage to fuel assemblies (Steinbrück, et al, 2006;Stuckert, et al, 2016;Beuzet, et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such oxidation models were previously developed at the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) (Natesan and Soppet, 2004) and L'institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) (Coindreau, et al, 2010). These were integrated in the available analysis codes, and utilized in simulation of mock-up SFP accident experiments for code validation work (Lindgren and Durbin, 2007;Beuzet, et al, 2011;Beuzet, et al, 2016;Stuckert, et al, 2016). SAMPSON is a code included in the IMPACT code system which was developed through a 10-year project under sponsorship from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Ujita, et al, 1999a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Study on loss-of-cooling and loss-of-coolant accidents in spent fuel pool (confirmation of fuel temperature calculation function with oxidation reaction in the SAMPSON code)

Suzuki

Morita

Naitoh

et al. 2020

Mechanical Engineering Journal

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study on loss-of-cooling and loss-of-coolant accidents in spent fuel pool (confirmation of fuel temperature calculation function with oxidation reaction in the SAMPSON code)

Suzuki

Morita

Naitoh

et al. 2020

Mechanical Engineering Journal

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“…However, the evolution of its density, and hence of its protectiveness, is not experimentally recorded and not precisely simulated in SA codes in which oxide layers are considered as dense, without porosity. This could be a cause of underestimations by SA codes of oxidation enhancements and hydrogen productions observed during water reflooding tests [11,12]. Consequently, it was decided to measure the open porosity of oxidized Zr-based claddings [13,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation and Modeling of the Degradation of Zirconium-Based Fuel Cladding during Corrosion in Steam and Air-Steam Mixtures at High Temperatures

Haurais¹,

Beuzet²,

Steinbrück

et al. 2018

Zirconium in the Nuclear Industry: 18th International Symposium

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This paper presents the main results of a study conducted to quantify and to model the degradation state of Zr-based fuel claddings submitted to severe accident conditions in a nuclear reactor core: high temperatures and either pure steam or air-steam mixture. Due to the progressive thickening of a dense and protective ZrO2 layer, the oxidation kinetics of Zr-based claddings in steam at high temperatures typical of nuclear severe accidents, is generally cubic or parabolic. However, for some temperature domains, this oxide layer may crack, becoming porous and non-protective anymore. In these 'breakaway' conditions, the oxidation kinetics change from (sub-)parabolic to linear or even accelerated. Additionally, the temperature increase can lead core materials to melt and to relocate down to the vessel lower head, threatening its integrity. If it fails, and for specific conditions, air ingress may take place into the reactor. Hence, oxygen and nitrogen both react with Zr-based claddings, successively through oxidation of Zr (forming ZrO2 layer), nitriding of Zr (forming ZrN particles) and oxidation of ZrN (forming ZrO2 and releasing nitrogen). These self-sustained chemical reactions enhance the deterioration of Zr-based claddings and of their ZrO2 layers, inducing a rise of their open porosity. To quantify this porosity, a series of two-step experiments was conducted. First, ZIRLO® cladding samples were isothermally oxidized in various conditions: in pure steam or in 50-50mol% air-steam mix, at several temperatures, and for different durations. The main thermal effects on reaction kinetics and the high impact of air on the cladding degradation are all confirmed by experimental results. Second, pioneering porosimetry measurements by Hg intrusion were realized for the first time on such corroded cladding samples. In both atmospheres, it is pointed out that 1200 and Degradation of Zr-based fuel claddings during corrosion at high temperatures 2 1250 K lead to particularly porous oxide layers, especially due to strong 'breakaway' effects. Moreover, it is confirmed that the presence of air strongly enhances the oxide cracking: cladding samples are more porous when oxidized in the air-steam mixture than under pure steam. Finally, it is observed that in all conditions, the open porous volume fraction of ZIRLO® claddings continuously rises during their corrosion process. Hence, for each experimental condition, porosity correlations are determined through linear regressions, and porosity increase rates are deduced by derivation versus time and validated against porosimetry results of cladding samples corroded in transient (nonisothermal) conditions.

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“…Mock-up fuel bundle tests were conducted in assumption of air inlet for reactor pressure vessel which would occur in occasion of piping rupture in NPP during a severe accident. They reported that the cladding oxidation behavior was much more intense in steam/air mixture or in dry air compared to the oxidation in steam [6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in US and the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) in France have proposed oxidation models for cladding in air environment [9,19]. In addition, simulations using severe accident codes which were modified by introducing these oxidation models have been conducted to calculate the oxidation behavior of mock-up fuel bundles in heating tests in air environment [3,8,[20][21]. These oxidation models were constructed for claddings made of alloys such as Zircaloy-4 (Zry4), ZIRLO T M , and M5 ® , while there were only few reports on the oxidation behavior of Zircaloy-2 (Zry2) in air, even though this alloy is widely utilized in BWRs [22,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of Zircaloy-2 oxidation model for SFP accident analysis

Nemoto

Kaji

Ogawa

et al. 2017

Journal of Nuclear Materials

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The authors previously conducted thermogravimetric analyses on Zircaloy-2 in air. By using the thermogravimetric data, an oxidation model was constructed in this study so that it can be applied for the modeling of cladding degradation in spent fuel pool (SFP) severe accident condition. For its validation, oxidation tests of long cladding tube were conducted, and computational fluid dynamics analyses using the constructed oxidation model were proceeded to simulate the experiments. In the oxidation tests, high temperature thermal gradient along the cladding axis was applied and air flow rates in testing chamber were controlled to simulate hypothetical SFP accidents. The analytical outputs successfully reproduced the growth of oxide film and porous oxide layer on the claddings in oxidation tests, and validity of the oxidation model was proved. Influence of air flow rate for the oxidation behavior was thought negligible in the conditions investigated in this study.

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Cladding oxidation during air ingress. Part II: Synthesis of modelling results

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

Study on loss-of-cooling and loss-of-coolant accidents in spent fuel pool (confirmation of fuel temperature calculation function with oxidation reaction in the SAMPSON code)

Study on loss-of-cooling and loss-of-coolant accidents in spent fuel pool (confirmation of fuel temperature calculation function with oxidation reaction in the SAMPSON code)

Investigation and Modeling of the Degradation of Zirconium-Based Fuel Cladding during Corrosion in Steam and Air-Steam Mixtures at High Temperatures

Investigation of Zircaloy-2 oxidation model for SFP accident analysis

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