The US has a cost share project with a fuel vendor to evaluate the performance of iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys as accident tolerant material for fuel cladding in light water reactors. A wide variety of candidate cladding materials were tested in high temperature water for one year under simulated normal operation conditions of boiling water reactor (BWR) and pressurized water reactors (PWR) to determine their passivation characteristics. Materials included Zirc-2, T91, HT9, MA956, nano-ferritic, Alloy 33, superferritic, and Fe22Cr5Al3Mo (a FeCrAl alloy). Results show that ferritic materials such as FeCrAl performed particularly well under the testing conditions developing an oxide film of the surface that was below 300 nm in thickness both for oxygenated and hydrogenated conditions in the temperature range 288-330°C. General corrosion of FeCrAl alloys under light water reactor operating conditions would not be a limiting factor for their performance as cladding material.

Subject
Electric current, Water, Materials, Boiling water reactors, Oxides, Metal surfaces, Oxide formation, Metal coupons, Oxide films, Metal oxides, Oxide surfaces, Film formation, Zirconium alloys
Keywords:
light water reactor, FeCrAl, cladding, accident tolerant, oxide film, Fe22Cr5Al3Mo
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2016
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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