In certain small pressurized water reactors and large pressurized water reactors with higher single-unit power output, issues may arise with fuel cladding being exposed to oxygen-rich water conditions. Currently, the nuclear fuel cladding materials used in large nuclear power plants include various zirconium alloys, such as ZIRLO, E110, E635, M5, N36, etc., all of which are high-Nb zirconium alloys. The corrosion resistance of high-Nb zirconium alloys is highly sensitive to dissolved oxygen in water, and their corrosion resistance significantly deteriorates in oxygen-enriched water. Therefore, there is a need to develop a new type of zirconium alloy cladding material with both excellent corrosion resistance and insensitivity to dissolved oxygen. This paper provides an overview of a novel Nb-free Zr-Sn-based cladding material developed by our team, called JAZ zirconium alloy. Autoclave corrosion tests conducted out of pile show that the JAZ zirconium alloy exhibits superior corrosion resistance in various hydrochemical environments. The corrosion resistance of the JAZ zirconium alloy not only surpasses that of the Zr-4 alloy but also exceeds that of commercial Zr-Nb and Zr-Sn-Nb alloys, and it remains insensitive to the concentration of dissolved oxygen in water. The mechanism by which dissolved oxygen affects the corrosion behavior of zirconium alloys is elucidated through the analysis of the oxidation behavior of the second-phase particles, the evolution of the microstructure of the oxide film, and the stress evolution within the oxide film.
XU Shitong
,
YAO Meiyi
,
ZHOU Bangxin
. A novel Nb-free Zr-Sn-based zirconium alloy[J]. Journal of Shanghai University, 2025
, 31(5)
: 774
-788
.
DOI: 10.12066/j.issn.1007-2861.2708
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