US 2006/0048869 A1Published application

Non-heat treated zirconium alloy fuel cladding and a method of manufacturing the same

AssigneeGlobal Nuclear Fuel - Americas, LLC

InventorsDavid White, Daniel Lutz, Yang-Pi Lin, John Schardt, Gerald Potts, Robert Elkins, Hiroaki Kagami, Hideyuki Mukai

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Abstract

Disclosed herein are zirconium-based alloys that may be fabricated to form nuclear reactor components, particularly fuel cladding tubes, that exhibit sufficient corrosion resistance and hydrogen absorption characteristics, without requiring a late stage α+β or β-quenching processes. The zirconium-base alloys will include between about 1.30-1.60 wt % tin; 0.0975-0.15 wt % chromium; 0.16-0.24 wt % iron; and up to about 0.08 wt % nickel, with the total content of the iron, chromium and nickel comprising at least about 0.3175 wt % of the alloy. The resulting components will exhibt a surface region having a mean precipitate sizing of between about 50 and 100 nm and a Sigma A of less than about 2×10−19 hour with the workpiece processing generally being limited to temperatures below 680° C. for extrusion and below 625° C. for all other operations, thereby simplifying the fabrication of the nuclear reactor components while providing corrosion resistance comparable with conventional alloys.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A method for manufacturing a nuclear reactor component comprising:

preparing a zirconium-base alloy including
a tin content of between about 1.30 and 1.60 wt %;
a chromium content of between about 0.0975 and 0.15 wt %;
an iron content of between about 0.16 and 0.24 wt %;
and
a nickel content of between 0.0 and about 0.08 wt %;
wherein a total content of the iron, chromium and nickel included in the zirconium-base alloy is at least about 0.3175 wt %;
a balance being zirconium, oxygen, lesser amounts of carbon and silicon, and unavoidable impurities;
forming a workpiece from the zirconium-base alloy;
performing a β-quench on the workpiece to form a quenched workpiece
performing additional forming processes to complete the nuclear reactor component from the quenched workpiece, wherein the additional forming processes may be selected from a group consisting of an extrusion process conducted at an extrusion temperature of less than about 680° C., cold deformations and hot deformations;
wherein the workpiece is not subjected to a working temperature greater than about 625° C. subsequent to the extrusion process and all the additional forming processes result in a final workpiece Sigma-A value of less than 2×10−19 hour;
wherein the nuclear reactor component includes a surface region having secondary phase precipitates (SPP), the secondary phase precipitates having a mean diameter no less than about 50 nm and no greater than about 100 nm;
and
further wherein the nuclear reactor component includes a wetted surface having a surface roughness no greater than about 0.50 μm Ra

12 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.