Improved and Innovative Accident-Tolerant Nuclear Fuel Materials Considered for Retrofitting Light Water Reactors—A Review

Rebak, Raul B.

doi:10.3390/cmd4030024

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 49 publications

(110 reference statements)

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“…The current fuel, UO 2 meets all performance and safety requirements, maintaining nuclear power as a clean and economically competitive energy option. Developing alternative fuel technologies to further improve the safety and competitiveness of existing nuclear power plants is the aim of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) development [19,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accident-Tolerant Barriers for Fuel Road Cladding of CANDU Nuclear Reactor

Diniasi,

Fulger,

Butoi

et al. 2023

Coatings

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The nuclear industry is focusing some efforts on increasing the operational safety of current nuclear reactors and improving the safety of future types of reactors. In this context, the paper is focused on testing and evaluating the corrosion behavior of a thin chromium coating, deposited by Electron Beam Physical Vapor Deposition on Zy-4. After autoclaving under primary circuit conditions, the Cr-coated Zy-4 samples were characterized by gravimetric analysis, optical microscopy, SEM with EDX, and XRD. The investigation of the corrosion behavior was carried out by applying three electrochemical methods: potentiodynamic measurements, EIS, and OCP variation. A plateau appears on the weight gain evolution, and the oxidation kinetics generate a cubic oxidation law, both of which indicate a stabilization of the corrosion. By optical microscopy, it was observed a relatively uniform distribution of hydrides along the samples, in the horizontal direction. By SEM investigations it was observed that after the autoclaving period, the coatings with thickness from 2 to 3 µm are still adherent and maintain integrity. The XRD diffractograms showed a high degree of crystallinity with the intensity of chromium peaks higher than the intensity of zirconium peaks. Electrochemical results indicate better corrosion behavior after 3024 h of autoclaving.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accident-Tolerant Barriers for Fuel Road Cladding of CANDU Nuclear Reactor

Diniasi,

Fulger,

Butoi

et al. 2023

Coatings

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Enhanced Mechanical Properties and Wear Resistance of FeCrAl Alloys at ~ 300°C and Higher Temperatures

Dolley,

Zhang,

Zorn

et al. 2024

JOM

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Worldwide, light water reactors (LWRs) have been using zirconium (Zr)-based alloys for the cladding of the uranium dioxide fuel for more than 6 decades. Zr alloys oxidize rapidly in the presence of water and steam at temperatures > 450°C; therefore, they do not respond well to scenarios of loss of coolant accidents. There is a global effort by nuclear materials technologists to find more robust or stronger cladding materials for LWRs. One option is to use an iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloy since they have excellent resistance to high temperature oxidation and superior mechanical properties at LWR operation temperatures. Results show that (1) FeCrAl alloys have better mechanical properties than Zr alloy and are orders of magnitude more resistant to creep at temperatures higher than LWR normal operation conditions. (2) FeCrAl alloys have better resistance to fretting wear than Zr alloys at the normal operation conditions of LWRs.

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