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High-Temperature Oxidation of Zircaloy-4 in Air Studied with Labeled Oxygen and Raman Imaging

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Abstract

High-temperature oxidation of zirconium-based cladding materials is expected to be the primary cause of the fuel assemblies’ degradation in spent fuel storage pool loss-of-cooling accidents. Here, high-temperature Zircaloy-4 oxidation has been studied through two-stage oxidation experiments using 18O isotope. Particular attention is paid to the effect of a low-temperature pre-oxidation scale which aims to simulate the corrosion scale existing on spent fuel cladding. Raman imaging was used to investigate the 18O distribution in the scales exposed either to 18O2 or to 18O2 + N2 atmosphere at high temperature. Results were assessed against more conventional SIMS mapping. The use of the 18O isotope tracer technique associated with micro-Raman mapping of the scales is demonstrated to be a powerful method to investigate the transport properties in the scales and will help to gain understanding of the kinetic differences between different pre-oxides.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been performed within the frame of the DENOPI Project, funded by the French government as part of the “Investment for the Future” Program, Reference ANR-11-RSNR-0006. We warmly thank the whole DENOPI consortium for fruitful comments and discussions, and particularly the assistance of Dr. Christian Duriez (IRSN Cadarache, France). We also thank Etienne Bachelet from LCOGT for his advices on computer programming for data visualization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LEPMI, University of Grenoble Alpes, 38402, Saint-Martin d’Hères Cedex, France

    Anne Kasperski, Mathieu Guérain & Michel Mermoux

  2. LEPMI, CNRS, 38402, Saint-Martin d’Hères Cedex, France

    Anne Kasperski, Mathieu Guérain & Michel Mermoux

  3. GEMaC, UMR 8635/CNRS Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin, 92195, Meudon, France

    François Jomard

Authors
  1. Anne Kasperski
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  2. Mathieu Guérain
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  3. Michel Mermoux
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  4. François Jomard
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Correspondence to Michel Mermoux.

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Kasperski, A., Guérain, M., Mermoux, M. et al. High-Temperature Oxidation of Zircaloy-4 in Air Studied with Labeled Oxygen and Raman Imaging. Oxid Met 87, 501–513 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11085-017-9713-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11085-017-9713-9

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