ML17262A009

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Research Information Letter 0009, High Temperature Oxidation of Zircaloy Fuel Cladding in Steam
ML17262A009
Person / Time
Issue date: 03/14/1977
From: Levine S
Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
To: Minogue R, Rusche B
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
RIL-0009
Download: ML17262A009 (17)
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~,H~cnANDl 1r*' FOR:

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Office of Nuc1P-ar Reactor Regulation r.. B. M1noouP. ~irector nffi~e of ~tandards Develoriment S. LevinP, Director f!ffice of r:uclear t;equlatory Research RFSURCJ-i INFORVAT0r~ LETIER-9 ~ HIGH TH!PERATllRE OXIP.ATTON OF ZIRC/\\LOY FUEL CL.ADDING IN STfJI,~

This m£'r:10rar.duri trMsrr.its thi:-* results of completed r~searc~: on the high ternp~raturP oxidation of Z1rca1o.v fu'1 cladding in st~ar..

This research 1s apr11caf-:1e to recs perfomance calculations for 11ght watP.r reactors fueled with 1. 1-235.

Thf' t~cnnical suiwary givr>.n in Enclosure 1 presents the major find1ros of the work completed to date.

The enclosed* reports (Enclosur~s 2-P) are the pertinent qu~rt~rly proqress anrl topical reports Dut:lish~d duriri~ the conduct of the research.

f. final report on th" iscther;::(ll and transient oxirfation data is scheduled to tie published in M?rch, 1977.

Th~ principal results are t!"i~ follo1,o*1n~:

1.

The ne\\\\I date> on the isoth.Prr'.al ox'fc.llition rr.tf" of 71rca1oy cladding fo stPa~: shoi" a rati=> ccnstar:t. at 22rv1°F that is only 58~'. of that of the E.aker-,Just Pquatior.. produc1nf' 7f'X cif thP oxidRt1on t'1at is calculated wit!1 the Bilker-tJust ec:uation.

Cnntar.;1nants 1n thf> stearr suer. as hydrooen. nitrocer.. and OX.Yflen (fror: air intruding rlurinr a LOC.l\\) NP.rP found to have no s19riificant effects on thP. oxidaton behavior.

'-!n ol:°lscrvabl~ effects of stear-, flow rat~s were found over th£' range fror* 1. tn qr, ft/SPC.

rarticular att~ntion was paid to the probler1 of precisf" l;-i£asurenents of oxic!at1cn ratPs anc! r~action te~-*

peratures.

rt ate Mf.'asurPr.t:>nts wert? mC1df:l' for total oxy0Pr. consur.Pd, and for qrowt!"l of thr* oridP anrl oxysen stat:>il izec! alnha phasP layPrs fornrd or. thP surfacP duri11r the oxidation.

~tatistical error analyses were r:adP of the ratf' d~ta, - anc! abso1 utP error analysr*s r.-.ade on thP teriperaturP li'Ct1surf'r:Mts, pro~ucinr the hest charactPr1zr:d, rel 1ahle.

3nd accuratf'.' oxi elation rtlte data yet det~nrinPc! OP 71 rcalny in stetin:.

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.AndresseP.s rvr~ 1 4 1977

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... ctt.il'" ~,q,~r*i1*:ern.. s werf:' ccnouctea 1n S"tPBr us1n~ transient t1r.1-tPr:iperatL1rP historirs for postulated U'CJl 1s.

The expPrfr."-eritf'lly deterr~fopri i sot'1nn!'a 1 o>:1 r.~ti en ratP datl! WP.~ then used fn a cornuter cod~ to calculati:> the oxirl~tinn P:xrected ciurin~ th"' ~xfH~rfr>ental trl!nsi~nt tests.

The exnf'rir~r!tA 1 results ar.rr-f-0 w1tt-: thosr.. prert1r.t:~rl by t.hP codr-, t.hl's ver1fy1r~ tbP l!SP of thE' 1sntrP"':a1 rate data in ca1cul1'tfor-thr: ar.:our.t of md dC'tior duriri~ pos tul atei::' reC1ctor acci <ir-r.t~.

3.

r1; auto-catnlytic r('l,:1ct1nr: of U:f.* srec:fr~r.!; "l!S not ot*stlrVC'ri in ar..v experfr~nt~ t1->011f"'.h unox1rli?l?c sri:-cir.:~rs were>

hf'r.it~rl in f1ow1ri~

ste~r froF ~~out 4nr 0 r tn as hiah as 273?°F in as little es ten sPconrls.

anf: 1r. a fo\\*t cases WI'.'~ plur.oPr. in a fraction of rt Sf'COnr' into flowinq Stear,: 1r. n furnaCP hP1r' at 200f' 0 f.

Sor.-' S[)eCirlf'r. h~at'fnt arOV(' thF'.'

desi rerl re.ac.t1 or ter*.pP.rature was ot'SPrv~<i, bL1t eac! 1 spc-dr.iP.r. c::1c~*ly coolec' to the rP~ctfor: te:-:perature and 19nit.1on dirl net occ1.ir.

t.

Th~ rati: of ciiffo~"if'r. of 01vr.i::r. fn 7ircalov at: hir:h tpr111r:r;:d:*!res (hr ta phase) WilS founr. tri br anr.ro)(irntP.ly on~*: ral f thP.t pr~viovs 1.v report~(! in t~e liter?.turr-and usr-id at thf s tk.f' in hi:-st estir"*?.tP ar.c

~v~luatior ~0~1 calcu1Pt1nP~*of er1irit~l~r~nt of fu~1 clarldfnc durinr

n. rostulRt"..'d !.nr..~.

Partic:t1lar attr>~tion was pair to t!;e orobler-1s of r'Pos11r~rnt~ of diffusion ratc:-~ cHHl t~!~reraturPS.

Thr~r-inrli::riF:r*.""!c'."nt r:'pthoi:!s of di:-tf'.'rrir:r.tion w~r(' us~c' in thr diff11sivit.y sturly.

Ti**f r.xc~lknt a!7~~r.,,,nt. of t.hr data fror.* thr tr.rP.E-irl0~riPrrl<>nt. r'('>thoi:'.~,

CIS shown in !"°1f\\f Pr,...r;c~* f, ir:c'i c?.t"'S that t11p ne1-i, data an frfl"' frcr.:

sys tP.::!a t. i c P. rrors.

rvaluation ~~d firnlira~i11tv

- *----------- _, ___ - *- *.... *- ___.._~

1.

This oro0ran arid its rr>~wlts h?.VP bi?r:r. rPvfoi.r~c rP~~.'.'t~f!1y wf":i 1 ~

1rr pror.rpss by thr 7.ircalny flarlrlir~ Pf-vie\\,; r.:.rour, cit qu?.rtPr1.v Zircclov Claddinc: lrocrar. n"v1n.! m~*tiMs and at tf':c _t,r:mrn1 l*'ater r:~f!ctor Saff'tv F'.~sr.arci1 Jnforr*fltior. **ef*tinc*c;.

Tnterf>st~d Vf'r.*"'C'rs.

pu~*lic, and scientists fro1 1

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Th 0 OllcH'tf'rlv ar:cf tori cal reports 1ssuPd hrtv~ rc>ccivPr! !'PC-3 distrih!tior (32~ cert~;} vnrl have hePn ob"!:air.Pr! fror.1 :nr~ f:".v nuf."!(~ro11s r<>s~arrl-iPrs in both this and ot~r.-r cou'ltri e:;.

ihP consN1s11s has bec:n that thf'* worf~ has h~er. conc'uctr-rl cor:meterit1v anrl wiV~ sufficferit ~tt~ntfon to ter.hr.ical c!P.t?.il.. rirecisfon.

flnr( accuracy.

rxt~r::e Carr? Wi!S tllllN1 to P.lfrfMtP t!'if' ur:ci:;rt.ainties in terr:oeraturr~ mr-cc;tffP.~ ~Y!t ch~ract.,,ristic of th0 rlata previously report~d.* T!1f' n~w ox1iiet1on rat~ data ha.vr-b!'.?Pn cor:firrnP.d by n*nrr:

limited studies 111.. !arar. anrl fr.:mar..v.

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The 1moact of the new data on LOCft. l\\nalvses was exar.1ned hv cal-cul at1no peaJ'. cl adcHrri tP~ratures usfoq both the nP.W datft and the f\\a~er-.1ust corre1at.ior. 1r: a FP/\\F"-T3:PEL.ll,f'-'1 cornruter codp sk.u1at1on of ar e1p~r1nenta1 LOC~ tPst conduct~~ s~v~ra1 years ano. rt ca1culatP~

cladd1!"c t~rppratur~s nPar 22no°F, th:'. n~ equ~tfor pre~1cts a ternpera-1 tur~ 1~3°F 1owP.r the'!r t~cit orr-c!1ctf.!ci us1n~ tt'irc*

f;a~er-L1ust. correlation. :..-----

3.

ThP rerluc'"d ratf' o~ heat qen~ratfon as c~lcu1r-tec us1nC' the n~\\or cata. a1onr. v*i th the P.xperirrr-nt1'l of':sP.rvations. inc:!icl'lte only a Sfi'.al1, __

probability of r.ossi!*,1~ ir.nitior. of the fuel r1add1nf' durino ll l.OCJ!..,_..,..

Ir: acMi tinr., trP exr~r1l".'1?!'1ts 1nd1c11t.e that thP cx1 cfr. f1 lr: forri:>~ on the> fuel rods by corrosfor. durinn nor1"1al C!"Pration s!1ould causfC' a si~r.ificant ~Pc-reas~ ir tr0 total oY1rl~ticn occurrir.r, durinr. a postulatPi:i acci~r.-rit fror: that Cl'!lcu1atcd u5foc* unoxi~11~c! fuPl cl addinr:.

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rt was 01'5~rv1?d trt1t an addi tfonr11 c0ns('!rvati $r.*; r*1av sor:P.tk!Cs occur ir. th1? ttrr.1ic1'ticn of th~* isot~l:'r:,~1 ratr data to tnrr-* calculations.

In 1nstanc*"S where (r.) t 1~r first ter:;r*~raturr> f'P.a~* 1r. thf' Lor~. is rirPater t~ar. a~~cut lfH)r*°F. (h) t~f' fo1l~11n('1 tei:ineraturf' rnin1rrurr 1s less thar: a!-*out 15!in°F, ar:d (c) ti'.:. s,,ccmd t~r.*neraturt p~?.Jr is le-s!;

t~icn l!t*.ol'i: ?2('1!"°F, tf-:c-f')(Pt;:>rir 0r.tal 1~' ohsi:arv('r' consm*-ption of OX.V(')P.1"1 is sianifirantly l~ss t'~;;rn that calt::trlatrd usin~ the-1sritl1f>rr-*al rati:-

data. as is tl-;2 thic~'n0ss of tJ:P OY.idQ filr.

PC'M'ver. thr-thid.n~s!:

of the oxy~~ 0 n staH11zP~ alrhn 1ay£r rHiDPars to be 1ncreasPr' alri*ost as r:*urh as the:; thi c~*:nr*ss of t 11i:- oxf df> l ayf'r i's drcr<"'asP.~, so that t~e tridl"~ss of ductil<>

i..1~11 l!"ft to sustP.in loac's is alriost unchan11erl.

It is tho~rht t"at th.> **flnO!::alous oxidat1C"r. eff~ct:* i5 du.r:> to a rt"cer.tl.Y r:!1scovPrrd hysteresis ir thr phr.sE* tri'!.rsfcrr;r.tfons of U.e nxir!n filr: at ten'r1~r1't.ures b'~b!~r:r: a~out lF.~* and ~?ni1°F.

5.

Thr nrPSCnt recs ~cr~rtanCP Critrri~ r1ac~ t~~ li~ttat1c~s of 22nr 0 r pPa!: cledcin'.' tt-r*orrC1t11rr> and 1n equival~nt oxication of t'"'P. ~.rall H:ici~ness to l1r:1t th~ d~rirPe of er:t>rittlP.r-er:t of the fud c1Rddinri durir.~ anc after a tOCA.

fvalt!1'tion r~NiP1s freqw~ntly use the pres~nt 1i terature data or. the d1ffosiv1ty of CX.YfiPr. 1n het.a phRS<" 7ircalo.v,.

1n aclditfon to thr.: thidnPSSPS of oxid(? anri oxyC1r>l'1 sta!;ilizei:' alpha phasP. calculatecl. to estii:~atr: the depth of OXYf!P.r. pPnetr;;ition into ttie heta phas~ fror*, U*P alph2-bPta inb"'rfacr:i.

They thr->n estfr~et~ the \\'1al1 thic~ness of ductilP. wc11 r~r:--Rininci to sustnin loi!ds fr;pcsed rtv.rin,,

and after refloodinc of the core.

The r.r->1** diffus1vitv data int11cate that therr- ~muld bt:>. sfonificantl.v less dert~* of Pr:-hrfrtlPr-~r*t 111 the fuel cladc'inri \\</all calcl.'1ater4 for any ~1ver pcstult't~rl accic'Pr.t, and rmre wall

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I Addressees MAR 1 4 1977 1en cepeo 1e or 1usl:111*mno 1oeo1 1a'ter,,, 'Cne acc1oent seq~. ttnS.

c~ined with the rat~ data detef'l'lined Ot'I the g*rowth of oxide and oxygen stab111zed n.lpha hyers~ will produce a more scientific base for esta~1fsh1n9 embrittlement cr1t.Pr1a for ECCS Acceotance Criteria.

These results have b~en obtni~ed 1n respansP. to the specific directive given Rr~ ~Y thP (ornr.:1ss1oners to obtain new, better> a~~ bettP.r-character1zed data on the oxidation rnte of Zircaloy 1n stea~. They confi ~ that therP 1s a 1aroe dP.aree of conservat1sr.' 1n tl'!i:- eva1 uation model beinn use~ by the Regulatory Staff for calculatinQ the oxidation of Z1rca1oy durirtq a LOC.ll..

RtS will be hapry to furnish you ariy coop~ration ar.rl assistance t~at you may reauirP. in planninr. for a chan~e in the [CCS !Ccertance crfter1a 1n 10 CFR sn tpoend11 K.

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bee w/Enclosure 1:

B. Burson, RES R. Foulds, RSR C. Beck, RES G. Bennett, RSR b..1;..

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ENCLOSL1RE TECHNICAL SUM~ARY HIGH TEMPERATURE OXIDATION OF ZIRCALOY FUEL CLADDING IN STEAM This surranary transmits part of the new information obtained in an RES-sponsored research program on the rate of oxidation of Zircaloy fuel cladding in steam and the rate of diffusion of oxygen in beta phase Zircaloy.

We believe the new data should allow quantification of the conservatism of the required use of the Baker-Just rate constant equation for calculation of the rates of oxidation of Zircaloy, as stated (Ref. 1) in the present ECCS Acceptance Criteria.

In Docket No. RM-50-1, Acceptance Criteria for ECCS in LWR, the Com-missioners of the AEC stated (Ref. 2):

11This equation was derived by Baker and Just from their measurement of the rate of oxidation at the melting point of zirconium, in conjunction with Lemmon's and Bostrom's data at lower temperatures.

The equation is a straight line representation of a plot of the logarithm of the reaction rate vs. the reciprocal of the absolute tempera-ture.

The slope of this line is the activation ener9y, and depends in an important way on the single point of Baker and Just at the melting point of zirconium."

"The Baker-Just equation has been criticized extensively, "Until new data are obtained and present doubts are resolved we believe it best to continue the use of the Baker-Just equation.

11 "There is evident need for new and better experimental data to resolve this issue and to provide a rate equation with a more representative activation energy....

11

.... They also directed (Ref. 3) 11 *** the Director of the Division of Reactor

>a~c~.r i\\c::.can... i1 1-u yive prrnrny attention to study to determine more exactly the temperature at which clad embrittlement ceases to be simply a function of oxidation 11 fl. confirmatory research program sponsored by RES and nearing completion at ORNL has provided new data and rate equations pertinent to these needs.

The principal results are as follows:

(a)

1.

The rate constant

, 0-r, for total oxygen consumed during the isothermal oxidation of Zircaloy-4 in steam at atmospheric pressure has the temperature dependence from 1832°F to 2732°F (Ref. 4,5) 2 2 2 0, /2 = 0.1811 exp [-39,940/RT]

(g/cm) /s.

For comparison, the units is 2

o, /2 = 2.0496 Baker-Just equation (Ref. 6) in the same exp [-45,500/RT]

2 2 (g/cm ) /s.

Equations of the same form have been developed (Ref. 4,5) for the thicknesses of the(g~ygen-stabilized alpha layer, the oxide layer and the Xi layer

. The new data are reported graphi-cally in Figure l.

2.

The diffusivity of oxygen in beta phase Zircaloy-4 was found (Ref. 7) to have the temperature dependence from 1832°F to 2732°F (a)

(b)

-2 2

D = 2.63 x 10 exp [-28,200/RT]

cm /s for oxygen-16.

The values of the diffusivity of oxygen in this temperature ranpe are approximately one-half those reported previously for Zircaloy-2 by Mallett, et. al. (Ref. 8). and now used for calculating the oxygen gradients in the beta phase of oxidizing cladding.

The data are compared in Figure 2.

for the parabolic rate equation ~! = o ft, with W = 9rams of oxygen consumed, t = seconds, and o = the parabolic rate constant.

the Xi layer thickness is the sum of the oxide and alpha layer thickness.

.~...

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      • 3.

Two comnutPr c:odPS. STMTRAN-T (Rpf_ q) ;rnrl RTln-~ (RPf. ln) h;:ivp been written for calculating total oxygen consumed, alpha and oxide layer thicknesses, and the distribution of oxygen in the beta phase during postulated temperature transients.

SIMTRAN-I will also calculate temperature distributions in the fuel cladding during the temperature transients, but it requires more time to run.

Both codes have been verified with experi-mental data obtained in transient temperature oxidation experi-ments at ORNL.

The new oxidation rate data are compared in Figure 3 with the Baker-Just (B-J) rate equation and with data recently reported by other investigators.

At 2200°F, the new data show a rate constant for oxidation 58% of that calculated by the B-J equation.

The new ORNL data have been essentially confirmed by data recently reported by Kawasaki (Ref. 11,12) and by Leistikow (Ref. 13) and the disagreement with the B-J correlation con-firmed by data reported by Heidrick (Ref. 14) and by Biederman (WPI) et. al. (Ref. 15).

The new data also agree quite well (Figure 4) with the oxidation data reported by Hobson and Rittenhouse (Ref. 16) as recalculated by Pawel and Hobs.on (Ref. 17).

Extreme care was taken in all experiments to be certain of the accuracies of the temperature measurements and to allow the conduct of statistical evaluations of the experimental data.

The absolute errors in tempera-ture measurements were within +7.2°F rt 1652°F and within +l0.82F at 2732°F.

The 90% confidence intervals c)for the rate constant o /2 as calculated by the new rate equation are +3.3% at 1922°F, +l.7% at 2192°F and +2.9% at 2732°F.

Admission of 5% hydrogen, 10% nitrogen, or 10% oxygen to the flowing steam had no definitely measurable effect on the oxidation rates. Steam flow velocities from about l ft/sec to about 90 ft/sec had no observable effect.

An experimental simulated LOCA test; FRF-2 (Ref. 18), has been modeled using FRAP-T3 and RELAP-4.

Calculations were made of peak cladding temperatures and total oxygen consumed using the B-J correlation and then repeated with the new Cathcart-PaWel (C-P) correlation substituted for the B-J equation (Ref. 19). These values were then used to estimate the thicknesses of the oxide and oxygen-stabilized (c)

The physical significance of the 90% confidence interval is that if the experimental data were redetermined under the same conditions by the same techniques as that reported, there is a 90% probability that the best estimate line for the new data would lie inside the intervals specified.

r.

. J. *. alpha layers, the Xi thickness, and the thickness of beta phase remaining, assuming an original wall thickness of 0.025 inches.

The results are given in Table I.

At 200 seconds into the calculated LOCA, the peak cladding temperature was 2335°F using the B-J correlation and 2232°F using the C-P equation.

The reduction in calculated peak cladding temperature using the new data in this model was approximately 100°F.

The wall thicknesses consumed were 10.3%

and 6.5%, respectively.

While the oxygen profiles in the remaining beta phases were not calculated, the new diffusion data (Ref. 7) show that the depth of contamination would be considerably less (the diffusion rate is approximately one-half that previously reported by Mallett (Ref. 8)).

In the determination of the new diffusion rate data, the absolute temperature errors were within +/-_l.8°F at 1652°F and +/-_3.6°F at 2732°F.

The 90% confidence intervals for the diffusivity, D, of oxygen in beta phase Zircaloy-4 are +7.8%, -7.. 2% at 1832°F, +4.2%, -3.9% at 2282°F, and +10.0%, -9.1% at 2732°F.

The new data were obtained by both tracer and chemical diffusion data (no statistically significant differences) and the diffusivity was found to be independent of oxygen content in the beta phase.

A final report on these parts of the ORNL study will be issued by March 1977.

REFERENCES

l.

Metal-Water Reaction Rate.

2.

Docket No.

R~-50-1, 28 December, 1973 11Acceotance Criteria for Emergency Core Cooling Systems for Light-Water-Cooled - Nuclear Reactors:

Opinion of the Commission", Paul C. Bender, Secretary of the Commission, III. A.5.

Discussion: Metal-Water Reaction Rate, pages 56, 57. 58.

3.

Ibid., I.

Introduction, p. 10.

4.

ORNL/NUREG/TM-41, "Quarterly Progress Report on the Zirconium Metal-Water Oxidation Kinetics program sponsored by the NRC Division of Reactor Safety Research for April-June 1976 11

, August 1976, J. V. Cathcarti

5.

"Summary of the Zirconium Metal-Water Oxidation Kinetics Program" J. V. Cathcart, et. al., Fourth Water Reactor Safety Research Information Meeting, September 27-30, 1976, National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersbur9, Maryland.

6.

ANL-6548, 11Studies of Metal-Water Reaction at Hiah Temperature, Part III~ Experimental ~nd Theoretical Studies ~f the Zirconium-

\\~ater Reaction 11 May 1962, L. Baker, Jr. and L. C. Just.

7.

ORNL/NUREG/TM-19, 11?irconium Metal-Water Oxidation Kinetics Part II: Oxygen-18 Diffusion in Beta-Zircaloy", July 1976, R. A. Perkins.

8.

J. ElectrochelTl Soc. J.DQ:

181-84 (1959) "The Diffusion of Oxygen in Alpha and Beta Zircaloy-2 and Zircaloy-3 at High Temperatures 11 M. W. Mallett, ~. Albrecht, and P. R. Wilson.

9.

ORNL-5083, 11SIMTRAN I - A Computer Code for the Simultaneous Cal-culation of Oxygen Distributions and Temperature Profiles in Zircaloy During Exposure to High-Temperature Oxidizing Environments" November 1975, S. Malang.

10. R. E. Pawel, ORNL, unpublished.
11. JAERI-M-6181, "Reaction of Zircaloy Cladding with Steam Under Simulated Loss-of-Coolant Accident Conditions" Saturu Kawasaki, Teruo Furuta and Masao Hashimoto, July 1975.

_.!.* 12.

JAERI-6601 11Zircaloy-Steam Reaction and Embrittle!Tlent of Oxidized Zircaloy Cladding in a Simulated Loss-of-Coolant Accident" T-*-**-

r.. *-**"--

,..-~***--

1'-**---**~

11- --

rr_.r *.. J **

I

'"r'.t

.r

  • I'\\*
  • -*WV""""""~-,...,"""""'V

.,un\\J.JU." llUJYV llU.~llllllUL..V UllU IUl'\\.U.;)111 v1,,v111v, June 1976.

13. Leistikow, S., GfK, Karlsruhe, FRG, personal co1T1munication to J. V. Cathcart, ORNL.
14.

Heidrick, T. and Urbanic, V., unpublished AECL data.

15.

Biederman, R. R. Third Interim Progress Report, July l - September 30,

1975, 11A Study of Zircaloy-Stearn Oxidation Reaction Kinetics,"

EPRI Project 249-1, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

16.

ORNL-4758, 11Embrittlement of Zircaloy Clad Fuel Rods by Steam Durinq LOCA Transients", January 1972, D. 0. Hobson and P. L. Rittenhouse.

17.

Unpublished, R. E. Pawel and D. 0. Hobson, ORNL, 1973, oxidation data recalculated from data ori9inally reported in ORNL-4758 (Ref. 16).

18.

Nuclear Technology, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Aug. 1971) pp. 502-520, "Fuel Rod Failure Und~r Loss-of-Coolant r:onditions in TREAT",

R. A. Lorenz, D. 0. Hobson, and G. W. Parker.

19.

Private communication, L. J. Siefkin, !NE~ (EG&G) to M. L.

Picklesimer, NRC, December 16, 1976.

Table I Cal:ulation(a) of Damage to Cladding During Simulated LOCA Using New and Old Oxidation Correlations Time into LOCA, ;ec Correlation Equation(b) 25 sec 50 sec Peak Cladding Tenperature °F Thickness of wall consumed, mils Thickness of wall consumed, %(c)

Equivalent oxyge1 consumed, mg 02/cm2 Estimated oxide layer thickness, mils Estimated alpha layer thickness, mils Estimated Xi lay~r thickness, mils Estimated Xi lay~r thickness, %

wall (c)

Estimated thickn~ss of beta Zircaloy remaining, mils B-J 1603 0

C-P B-J 1603 2247 0

0.633 (a) Using RELAF-4 and FRAP-T3 modeling of FRF-2 (see Ref. 18)

(b)

B-J = Baker-Just correlation C-P = Cathcart-Pawel correlation (new data)

(c) assuming wall thickness of 0.025 inches C-P 2217 0.457 100 sec 150 sec 200 sec B-J C-P B-J C-P B-J c, 2296 2247 2323 2247 2335

.-""""" l 1.50 1.02 2.08 1.38 2.57 1.64 10.3%

6.55%

13. 9 8.9 2.75 1.72 2.99 1.87 5.74 3._

22.9 14.4 19.3 21.4

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9.0 Figure 4. Arrhenius Plot of Isothermal Rate of Oxidation of Zircaloy-4 in Steam, Comparison of Equations.

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Arrhenius Plot of Oxidation Rate Data for Isothennal Oxidation of Zircaloy-4 in Steam, Total Oxygen Consumed.

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