Application of zircaloy deformation and fracture maps to predicting dry spent fuel storage conditions

The research reported details the development of theoretical deformation and fracture maps for Zircaloy at temperatures between 50 and 8500C and for stresses between 5 and 500 MPa. The maps predict behavior which is in agreement with a large number of experimental observations reported in the literature. Transformations in deformation and fracture mechanisms, creep rate magnitudes, and times to fracture are predicted from the maps. Results are reported for grain sizes of 5 μm. The deformation and fracture maps are altered for irradiation effects based upon high stress-high temperature, short time, postirradiation data. Maximum allowable temperature limits to achieve 40 years dry storage are calculated as a function of time spent in wet pool storage using a decaying cask temperature function and a life fraction rule. 122 references, 15 figures, 4 tables