Fuel cladding interactions (fci) resistant coating and methods of making the same

A nuclear reactor coated cladding, comprising:

• a steel cladding having opposed interior and exterior surface;
• and
• a coating disposed on the interior surface of the steel cladding, wherein:
• the coating is a thermal and radiation resistant multilayer coating comprising:
• a ceramic layer in contact with the steel cladding,
• a metal oxide region separated from the ceramic layer by a metal layer,
• a metal nitride region separated from the metal oxide region by a metal layer, and the metal nitride region comprises at least two metal nitride layers and one or more metal layers, wherein each metal nitride layer is separated from an adjacent metal nitride layer by a metal layer of the one or more metal layers,
• the metal oxide region comprises at least two metal oxide layers and one or more metal layers, each metal oxide layer is separated from an adjacent metal oxide layer by a metal layer of the one or more metal layers,
• the metal layer separating the metal nitride region from the metal oxide region is disposed between a metal nitride layer and a metal oxide layer, and
• a thickness of the one or more metal layers in the metal nitride region is greater than a thickness of at least one of the one or more metal layers in the metal oxide region.