BEHAVIOR OF ZIRCONIUM CLADDING WITH CHROME-CONTAINING COATING FOR ACCIDENT TOLERANT FUEL (ATF) IN CORROSION AND HIGH-TEMPERATURE OXIDATION TESTS
To justify the benefit of zirconium cladding for accident tolerant fuel (ATF) with a protective coating as applied to normal operating conditions and loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCA), autoclave corrosion tests in deaerated water at 360 °C and high-temperature oxidation tests in steam at 1200 °C were carried out using E110opt cladding samples on zirconium sponge based with various options of chromium-containing coatings on the outer surface as compared to the uncoated samples. The tests carried out and post-test materials examination results showed an advantage of protective properties of cladding with a pure chrome coating to oxidation and hydrogenation and made it possible to recommend this coating for further technological investigations and reactor tests.