Zirconium-coated silicon carbide fuel cladding for accident tolerant fuel application
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsYuriy Aleshin, Joonhyung Choi
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Abstract
The invention relates to a multi-component cladding for a nuclear fuel rod that includes a combination of ceramic and metal components. More particularly, the invention is directed to a cladding that includes a ceramic composite having a zirconium composition deposited thereon to form a zirconium coated ceramic composite. The ceramic composite includes a ceramic matrix and a plurality of ceramic fibers. The cladding is effective to protect the contents of the cladding structure from exposure to high temperature environments during various load conditions of a nuclear reactor.
Claims12
A method for preparing a nuclear fuel rod cladding, comprising:
- preparing a ceramic composite, which comprises:
- a ceramic matrix;
- and
- a plurality of ceramic fibers;
- forming the ceramic composite in a shape such that it has an interior surface, an exterior surface and an inner cavity;
- and
- depositing on the exterior surface of the ceramic composite a metallic coating composition to form a coating thereon, the composition comprising a zirconium component composed of zirconium alloy, wherein the depositing comprises arc spray, liquid phase spray, cold spray, laser deposition, or a combination thereof, wherein the nuclear fuel rod cladding consists of the ceramic composite and the coating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.