On the issue of Zircaloy ductility during a reactivity-initiated accident

During reactor exposure, Zircaloy cladding undergoes various microstructural changes including irradiation damage, oxidation, and hydrogen pick-up. There is a concern that the combination of these changes in high burnup cladding will cause failure during a reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) at an energy deposition level significantly lower than that of fresh cladding. In RIA conditions, the cladding must withstand loading at high strain rates and under deformation paths close to transverse plane-strain extension. Thus to assess cladding failure it is necessary to examine the failure mechanism of unirradiated Zircaloy cladding under RIA-like loading conditions. The authors present here a theoretical analysis of a possible failure mode of Zircaloy cladding due to localized necking. The results of the analysis suggest that high-burnup cladding is susceptible to pronounced losses of ductility under a combination of plane strain loading deformation and the presence of thickness imperfections. Such imperfections may be caused by hydride embrittlement of the cladding or non-uniform oxidation such that an axial thickness change is created