Formation of hydride blisters in zirconium alloy pressure tubes

The fracture of the Zircaloy-2 pressure tube in the Pickering Unit 2 power reactor was associated with the growth of hydride blisters at points of contact between the pressure tube and the cooler calandria tube surrounding it. Similar blisters have been observed in a Zr-2.5 wt% Nb pressure tube in WR-1, an organic-cooled research reactor. These hydride blisters were formed and grew as a result of the thermal diffusion of hydrogen in the zirconium, a mechanism whereby hydrogen diffuses down a temperature gradient. If the terminal solid solubility of hydrogen is exceeded in the cooler regions, hydride will precipitate. In this paper, the time required to grow these hydride blisters will be estimated from the blister size and the hydrogen distribution in its neighborhood, by using simple equations derived from thermal diffusion theory