High-temperature oxidation behavior of classical zirconium alloys and new ATF cladding materials

Zirconium alloys are used as fuel cladding materials in light water reactors (LWR) for decades. They show excellent properties during operation but pose the risk of strong degradation, hydrogen and heat release during severe accident scenarios due to the serious high-temperature interaction of the zirconium alloys with water steam. The talk will give a brief summary of comprehensive work done at KIT on high-temperature oxidation of zirconium alloys in various atmospheres before it addresses recent developments on ATF claddings with focus on their high-temperature oxidation behavior. Examples will be given for silicon carbide ceramic-matrix composites, coated zirconium alloys and FeCrAl alloys.