Zirconium alloy resistant to shadow corrosion for parts of boiling water reactor nuclear fuel assemblies, parts made of the alloys, nuclear fuel assemblies, and uses thereof

摘要

Zirconium alloy resistant to shadow corrosion, for boiling water nuclear reactor fuel assembly component comprises a composition of niobium, tin, iron, sulfur, carbon, silicon and oxygen, and the preparation of the alloy comprises, during its manufacture, after its last hot deformation, heat treatments at 450-610[deg] C for at least 4 hours, then cold rolling with a rolling rate of at least 25% and final heat treatments at 450-610[deg] C for 1-20 hours. Zirconium alloy resistant to shadow corrosion, for boiling water nuclear reactor fuel assembly component comprises a composition (in wt.%) of niobium (0.4-4.5), tin (0.2-1.7), iron (0.05-0.45), sum of iron, chromium, nickel and vanadium (0.05-0.45), sulfur (traces-400 ppm), carbon (traces-200 ppm), silicon (traces to 120 ppm) and oxygen (600-1800 ppm), the rest being zirconium and the other impurities resulting from the development, provided that niobium is present at 9x [0.5-(iron+chromium+nickel+vanadium)], and the preparation of the alloy comprises, during its manufacture, after its last hot deformation, heat treatments at 450-610[deg] C for at least 4 hours, then cold rolling with a rolling rate of at least 25% and final heat treatments at 450-610[deg] C for 1-20 hours. Independent claims are included for: (1) a boiling water nuclear reactor fuel assembly component, made of the alloy; and (2) boiling water nuclear reactor fuel assembly, comprising the boiling water nuclear reactor fuel assembly component made of the alloy of at least some of the components are susceptible to be placed on galvanic coupling condition with other alloy components based on nickel or stainless steel. The zirconium alloy is useful in fuel component in a boiling water nuclear reactor of which the primary fluid contains up to 400 parts per billion of dissolved oxygen, up to 50 ml/kg of dissolved hydrogen, up to 50 parts per billion of zinc and also contains chemical species added to reduce the corrosion potential of the materials in contact with the reactor.