CORROSION BEHAVIOR OF DEFECTED FUEL ELEMENTS WITH U-2 W/o Zr CORE CLAD WITH ZIRCALOY-2 PDF Download

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The aqueous corrosion behavior of defected fuel elements having a U-2 wt. % Zr core with Zircaloy-2 cladding has been studied. A standard diffusion heat treatment for 7 hours at 880 C, followed by moderately rapid cooling, was established to overcome the effect of subtle defects in 15-mil Zircaloy cladding. The development of this heat treatment was carried out primarily with small rod specimens, which were also used to obtain data on aurxiliary effects of thw diffusion heat treatment. The heat treatment has been applied to full diameter tubes. One of these tubes was tested with subtle defects and various sections have been observed following the insertion of gross defects. These observations have shown a difference in the rate of hydrogen evolution as a result of heat treatment. In addition, the heat treatment changes the nature of failure in both full diameter tube sections and small rods. The presence of 2 wt. % Zr in the core reduces the corrosion rate considerably. Comparative quantitative data are presented for uranium alloys with various zirconium contents up to 15 wt. %. (auth).