[3E04-07] Irradiation behavior analysis

[3E06] Effect of hydrogen absorption on irradiation growth of Zircaloy-4 cladding tube

*Kazuo Kakiuchi¹, Masaki Amaya¹ (1. JAEA)

Keywords:Zircaloy, Cladding tube, Irradiation growth, Corrosion, Hydrogen absorption

The irradiation growth test for various type of improved Zr alloy had been performed in Norway Halden reactor in order to understand the dimension stability for long-term usage of PWR fuel as a technical program sponsored by Nuclear Regulation Authority, Japan. In this presentation, we report the effect of the hydrogen absorption on the irradiation growth behavior. Comparing the test results of the Zircaloy-4 specimens with or without pre-charged hydrogen (about 200 ppm and 400 ppm) before the irradiation test, if the hydrogen due to the corrosion during the irradiation test exceeds the hydrogen solubility in the irradiation temperature, the irradiation growth of the specimen with the pre-charged hydrogen tended to be larger than that without the pre-charged hydrogen. This suggests that it is necessary to consider the solid solution and precipitation behavior of hydrogen in the cladding tube from the point of evaluating the irradiation growth behavior.