Inner liners for fuel cladding having zirconium barriers layers
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsHerman S. Rosenbaum, Joseph S. Armijo
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention provides a cladding having an outer circumferential substrate, a zirconium barrier layer metallurgically bonded to the inside surface of the substrate and an inner circumferential liner metallurgically bonded to the zirconium barrier. The inner circumferential liner is more ductile than conventional Zircaloy. The low ductility of the inner circumferential liner is obtained, for example, by using a zirconium alloy containing a low tin content (e.g. less than 1.2% by weight) and/or a low oxygen content (e.g. less than 1000 ppm). The inner circumferential liner is less than about 25 micrometers thick.
Claims17
A cladding tube having a cross-section, the cladding tube comprising:
- an outer circumferential substrate having an inner surface;
- a zirconium barrier layer bonded to the inner surface of the outer circumferential substrate and itself having an inner surface;
- and
- an inner circumferential liner bonded to the inner surface of the zirconium barrier layer for protecting the zirconium barrier layer from corrosion, wherein the inner circumferential liner comprises a zirconium alloy having a reduced oxygen concentration sufficient to impart additional resistance to cracking.
A cladding tube having a cross-section, cladding tube comprising:
- an outer circumferential substrate having an inner surface;
- a zirconium barrier layer bonded to the inner surface of the outer circumferential substrate and itself having an inner surface;
- and
- an inner circumferential liner bonded to the inner surface of the zirconium barrier layer for protecting the zirconium barrier layer from corrosion, wherein the inner circumferential liner comprises a zirconium alloy and has a ductility sufficient to resist crack initiation and propagation due to pellet-cladding interaction.
A cladding tube having a cross-section, the cladding tube comprising:
- an outer circumferential substrate having an inner surface;
- a zirconium barrier layer bonded to the inner surface of the outer circumferential substrate and itself having inner surface;
- and
- an inner circumferential liner of less than about 30 micrometers thick bonded to the inner surface of the zirconium barrier layer for protecting the zirconium barrier layer from corrosion, wherein the inner circumferential liner comprises a zirconium alloy having a reduced oxygen concentration sufficient to impart additional resistance to cracking.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.