Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technická 4, Prague 6, CZ-160 07, Czech Republic.
Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Na Slovance 2, CZ-182 21, Prague 8, Czech Republic.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jul 25;7(1):6469. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-06923-4.
In this work, we demonstrate and describe an effective method of protecting zirconium fuel cladding against oxygen and hydrogen uptake at both accident and working temperatures in water-cooled nuclear reactor environments. Zr alloy samples were coated with nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) layers of different thicknesses, grown in a microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition apparatus. In addition to showing that such an NCD layer prevents the Zr alloy from directly interacting with water, we show that carbon released from the NCD film enters the underlying Zr material and changes its properties, such that uptake of oxygen and hydrogen is significantly decreased. After 100-170 days of exposure to hot water at 360 °C, the oxidation of the NCD-coated Zr plates was typically decreased by 40%. Protective NCD layers may prolong the lifetime of nuclear cladding and consequently enhance nuclear fuel burnup. NCD may also serve as a passive element for nuclear safety. NCD-coated ZIRLO claddings have been selected as a candidate for Accident Tolerant Fuel in commercially operated reactors in 2020.
在这项工作中,我们展示并描述了一种在水冷核反应堆环境中,既能在事故温度下,又能在工作温度下保护锆燃料包壳免受氧和氢吸收的有效方法。Zr 合金样品涂覆了不同厚度的纳米晶金刚石(NCD)层,这些 NCD 层是在微波等离子体化学气相沉积设备中生长的。除了表明这种 NCD 层可以防止 Zr 合金与水直接相互作用之外,我们还表明,从 NCD 膜中释放出的碳进入了下面的 Zr 材料,并改变了其性质,从而显著降低了氧和氢的吸收。在 360°C 的热水中暴露 100-170 天后,NCD 涂层 Zr 板的氧化通常降低了 40%。保护性 NCD 层可能会延长核包壳的使用寿命,从而提高核燃料的燃耗。NCD 还可以作为核安全的被动元件。2020 年,NCD 涂层 ZIRLO 包壳已被选为商用反应堆中耐事故燃料的候选材料。