Chemical inhomogeneity populations in various zircaloy claddings and their association with SCC and corrosion resistance

A technique has been developed that permits detection and characterization of sparsely distributed chemical inhomogeneities in Zircaloy. These inhomogeneities have previously been observed at the origins of iodine stress-corrosion cracks but are not detectable by, for example, simple scanning electron microscopy (SEM) examination. The technique uses radioactive iodine to ''label'' the chemical inhomogeneities, autoradiography to detect their locations, and SEM and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX) to further characterize them. Large areas of surface have been surveyed and statistically meaningful populations of chemical inhomogeneities measured for five different lots of Zircaloy cladding. Inner surfaces and cladding cross-sectional surfaces have been studied. There are clear differences in chemical inhomogeneity size distribution and composition between the various claddings. For three of the claddings characterized in this work, the previously measured stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) threshold stresses correlate well (inversely) with the new data on their average chemical inhomogeneity sizes. Of special interest is the fact that the most SCC-resistant cladding contains far fewer iron-bearing inhomogeneities than the other claddings