To evaluate the oxidation behavior of high-burnup advanced fuel cladding tubes in high-temperature steam, laboratory-scale isothermal oxidation tests were conducted using the following advanced fuel cladding tubes with burnups of up to 85 GWd/t: M-MDA^TM, low-tin ZIRLO^TM, M5®, and Zircaloy-2 (LK3). These oxidation tests were performed in steam-flowing conditions at temperatures ranging from 1173 to 1473 K for durations between 120 and 4000 s, and the oxidation kinetics was evaluated. The oxidation kinetics of the high-burnup advanced fuel cladding tube specimens estimated by assuming the parabolic rate law was comparable to or slower than that of the unirradiated Zircaloy-4 cladding tube specimens reported in a previous study. It is considered that the protective effect of the corrosion layer hindered oxidation. Furthermore, no increase in the oxidation kinetics because of the pre-hydriding was observed. The onset times of the breakaway oxidations of these cladding tube specimens were comparable to those of the unirradiated Zircaloy-4 cladding tubes reported in previous studies. Therefore, it is considered that the burnup extension up to 85 GWd/t and the use of the advanced fuel cladding tubes do not significantly increase the oxidation kinetics and do not significantly reduce the onset time of the breakaway oxidation.

For the purpose of investigating the effect of azimuthal temperature distribution on the ballooning and rupture behavior of Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) cladding tube, laboratory-scale experiments on non-irradiated Zry-4 cladding tube specimens were performed under transient-heating conditions which simulate loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) conditions by using an external heating method, and the data obtained were compared to those from a previous study, where an internal heating method was used. The maximum circumferential strains of the cladding tube specimens were firstly divided by the engineering hoop stress. The divided maximum circumferential strains, ks, of the previous study, which used the internal heating method, were then corrected based on the azimuthal temperature difference (ATD) in the cladding tube specimen. The ks for the external heating method which was used in this study agreed fairly well with the corrected ks obtained in the previous study which employed the internal heating method in the burst temperature range below ∼1200 K. Also, the area of rupture opening tended to increase with increasing of the value which is defined as the engineering hoop stress multiplied by the maximum circumferential strain. From the results obtained in this study, it was suggested that the maximum circumferential strain and the size of rupture opening of a cladding tube under LOCA-simulated conditions can be estimated mainly by using the engineering hoop stress, the maximum circumferential strain, and ATD in the cladding tube specimen, irrespective of heating methods.

To evaluate the fracture limit of high-burnup advanced fuel cladding tubes under loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) conditions, laboratory-scale integral thermal shock tests were performed using the following advanced fuel cladding tubes with burnups of 73–85 GWd/t: M-MDA^TM, low-tin ZIRLO^TM, M5®, and Zircaloy-2 (LK3). In total eight integral thermal shock tests were performed for these fuel cladding tube specimens, simulating LOCA conditions including ballooning and rupture, oxidation, hydriding, and quenching. During the tests, the specimens were oxidized to 10%–30% equivalent cladding reacted (ECR) at approximately 1473 K and were quenched under axial restraint load of approximately 520–530 N. The effects of burnup extension and use of the advanced fuel cladding tubes on the ballooning and rupture, oxidation, and hydriding under LOCA conditions were inconsiderable. Further, the high-burnup advanced fuel cladding tube specimens did not fracture in the ECR values equal to or lower than the fracture limits of the unirradiated Zircaloy-4 cladding tube reported in previous studies. Therefore, it can be concluded that the fracture limit of fuel cladding tubes is not significantly reduced by extending the burnup to approximately 85 GWd/t and using the advanced fuel cladding tubes, though it slightly decreases with increasing initial hydrogen concentration.