Development of Accident-Resistant Nuclear Fuel Sheaths by aApplying a Chromium Layer with Physical Vapor Deposition Method

Chromium coated zirconium alloys are one of the promising options for accident resistant fuel cladding (ATF) tubes for light water reactors (LWRs). In this study, the oxidation behavior of the chromium coating deposited by the physical vapor coating method on the zirconium substrate was investigated. The scanning electron microscope image of the cross-section of the samples and the atomic force microscope image of the sample surface show that a chromium layer with an approximate thickness of 20 nm and a lower surface roughness of 680 nm is formed on the surface. The results of EIS and PDP spectroscopic tests, in the aqueous environment of 3.5 wt% NaCl, show that the corrosion potential and current from -0.371 V and 5.85 ×10-8 A for the uncoated sample to -0.354 V And A has changed 0.65×10-8 , which indicates the improvement of oxidation resistance of the sample coated with Cr.