Characterisation of hydride blister in reactor operated Zircaloy-2 pressure tubes

Zircaloy-2 pressure tubes pickup hydrogen species during in-reactor service. The hydrogen pickup leads to hydride precipitation and in the event of a contact between the pressure tube and the calandria tube, hydrogen migrates to the cold spot leading to the formation of hydride blister. One such hydride blister location in an operated Zircaloy-2 pressure tube of RAPS-2 was subjected to metallographic studies and mapping of the microstructure across the tube thickness