Formation of pure zirconium islands inside c-component loops in high-burnup fuel cladding

David Mayweg; Johan Eriksson; Mohammad Sattari; Gustav Sundell; Magnus Limbäck; Itai Panas; Hans Olof Andrén; Mattias Thuvander

doi:10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155116

Formation of pure zirconium islands inside c-component loops in high-burnup fuel cladding

David Mayweg
, Johan Eriksson
, Mohammad Sattari
, Gustav Sundell
, Magnus Limbäck
, Itai Panas
, Hans Olof Andrén
, Mattias Thuvander

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

High-burnup Zr-based nuclear fuel claddings exhibit accelerated irradiation growth, corrosion and hydrogen pick-up, all correlated with the emergence of c-component dislocation loops. We made use of sub-nm-resolution atom probe tomography to characterize the nanoscale chemistry of c-loops in fuel cladding from boiling water reactor operation. We found segregation of Fe, Ni and Sn to dislocation lines and depletion of Sn and O inside the loops, resulting in nearly pure Zr islands. We also observed nucleation of suboxide inside one c-loop, pointing to a possible mechanism of accelerated in-reactor corrosion. Such Zr-islands might also promote hydride precipitation and associated degradation.

Original language	English
Article number	155116
Journal	Journal of Nuclear Materials
Volume	597
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155116
State	Published - Aug 15 2024
Externally published	Yes

Funding

DM gratefully acknowledges funding from the Swedish Centre for Nuclear Technology (SKC). We acknowledge OKG, Vattenfall, Westinghouse and EPRI for financial support. The authors thank Pia Tejland at Studsvik for provision of the cladding tube samples and performing some of the FIB lift-outs from the KKL material. The MUZIC and MIDAS communities are recognized for fruitful collaboration. All APT and TEM experiments were performed at Chalmers Materials Analysis Laboratory (CMAL).

Keywords

Atom probe tomography
Dislocations
Irradiation-induced damage
Nuclear fuel cladding
Segregation
Zr-alloys

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10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155116

Cite this

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title = "Formation of pure zirconium islands inside c-component loops in high-burnup fuel cladding",

abstract = "High-burnup Zr-based nuclear fuel claddings exhibit accelerated irradiation growth, corrosion and hydrogen pick-up, all correlated with the emergence of c-component dislocation loops. We made use of sub-nm-resolution atom probe tomography to characterize the nanoscale chemistry of c-loops in fuel cladding from boiling water reactor operation. We found segregation of Fe, Ni and Sn to dislocation lines and depletion of Sn and O inside the loops, resulting in nearly pure Zr islands. We also observed nucleation of suboxide inside one c-loop, pointing to a possible mechanism of accelerated in-reactor corrosion. Such Zr-islands might also promote hydride precipitation and associated degradation.",

keywords = "Atom probe tomography, Dislocations, Irradiation-induced damage, Nuclear fuel cladding, Segregation, Zr-alloys",

author = "David Mayweg and Johan Eriksson and Mohammad Sattari and Gustav Sundell and Magnus Limb{\"a}ck and Itai Panas and Andr{\'e}n, \{Hans Olof\} and Mattias Thuvander",

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doi = "10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155116",

language = "English",

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journal = "Journal of Nuclear Materials",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Formation of pure zirconium islands inside c-component loops in high-burnup fuel cladding

AU - Mayweg, David

AU - Eriksson, Johan

AU - Sattari, Mohammad

AU - Sundell, Gustav

AU - Limbäck, Magnus

AU - Panas, Itai

AU - Andrén, Hans Olof

AU - Thuvander, Mattias

PY - 2024/8/15

Y1 - 2024/8/15

N2 - High-burnup Zr-based nuclear fuel claddings exhibit accelerated irradiation growth, corrosion and hydrogen pick-up, all correlated with the emergence of c-component dislocation loops. We made use of sub-nm-resolution atom probe tomography to characterize the nanoscale chemistry of c-loops in fuel cladding from boiling water reactor operation. We found segregation of Fe, Ni and Sn to dislocation lines and depletion of Sn and O inside the loops, resulting in nearly pure Zr islands. We also observed nucleation of suboxide inside one c-loop, pointing to a possible mechanism of accelerated in-reactor corrosion. Such Zr-islands might also promote hydride precipitation and associated degradation.

AB - High-burnup Zr-based nuclear fuel claddings exhibit accelerated irradiation growth, corrosion and hydrogen pick-up, all correlated with the emergence of c-component dislocation loops. We made use of sub-nm-resolution atom probe tomography to characterize the nanoscale chemistry of c-loops in fuel cladding from boiling water reactor operation. We found segregation of Fe, Ni and Sn to dislocation lines and depletion of Sn and O inside the loops, resulting in nearly pure Zr islands. We also observed nucleation of suboxide inside one c-loop, pointing to a possible mechanism of accelerated in-reactor corrosion. Such Zr-islands might also promote hydride precipitation and associated degradation.

KW - Atom probe tomography

KW - Dislocations

KW - Irradiation-induced damage

KW - Nuclear fuel cladding

KW - Segregation

KW - Zr-alloys

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85192289218

U2 - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155116

DO - 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2024.155116

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85192289218

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VL - 597

JO - Journal of Nuclear Materials

JF - Journal of Nuclear Materials

M1 - 155116

ER -

Formation of pure zirconium islands inside c-component loops in high-burnup fuel cladding

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

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