• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.473-477
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• 2003

The hydrogen redistribution induced by thermotransport at temperatures likely to be encountered in nuclear power reactors (300-$340^{\circ}C$) was investigated in modified Zircaloy-4 alloys. Modified Zircaloy-4 alloys were prepared by altering the chemical composition of Zircaloy-4; the oxygen content of Zircaloy-4 (0.1 wt%) was increased to 0.2, 0.5 and 1.0 wt%. The heat of transport ($Q^{*}$ ) for hydrogen was measured by changing the initial hydrogen and oxygen concentrations. It was found that the heat of transport was not affected by increases in the initial hydrogen concentration from 63.3 to 91.7 ppm. However, the value of $Q^{Q}$ decreased from 6.8 to 4.5 ㎉/mol as the initial oxygen concentration was increased from 0.2 to 1.0 wt%.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.47-47
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• 2001

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.193-199
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• 1985

Iodine-induced stress corrosion cracking tests of Zircaloy-4 cladding were undertaken using the modified infernal pressurization method. The effects of iodine concentration and applied stress were studied. The critical iodine concentration for SCC was found to be about 0.2 mg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ at 603$^{\circ}$K. The threshold stress was dependent on the test temperature and the mechanical properties of the specimen. The fracture surface showed that the crack propagated stepwise iron one grain to others until the material was unstable and then ruptured mechanically. The initial region showed the transgranular feature and the wedge-shaped cracks. As the crack proceeded, the transgranular and ductile-tearing mired feature appeared in the middle region.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.742-754
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• 2020

Zircaloy cladding oxidation is an important phenomenon for both design basis accident and severe accidents, because it results in cladding embrittlement and rapid fuel temperature escalation. For this reason during the last decade, many experts have been conducting experiments to identify the oxidation phenomena that occur under design basis accidents and to develop mathematical analysis models. However, since the study of design extension conditions (DEC) is relatively insufficient, it is essential to develop and validate a physical and mathematical model simulating the oxidation of the cladding material at high temperatures. In this study, the QUENCH-05 and -06 experiments were utilized to develop the best-fitted oxidation model and to validate the SPACE code modified with it under the design extension condition. It is found out that the cladding temperature and oxidation thickness predicted by the Cathcart-Pawel oxidation model at low temperature (T < 1853 K) and Urbanic-Heidrick at high temperature (T > 1853 K) were in excellent agreement with the data of the QUENCH experiments. For 'LOCA without SI' (Safety Injection) accidents, which should be considered in design extension conditions, it has been performed the evaluation of the operator action time to prevent core melting for the APR1400 plant using the modified SPACE. For the 'LBLOCA without SI' and 'SBLOCA without SI' accidents, it has been performed that sensitivity analysis for the operator action time in terms of the number of SIT (Safety Injection Tank), the recovery number of the SIP (Safety Injection Pump), and the break sizes for the SBLOCA. Also, with the extended acceptance criteria, it has been evaluated the available operator action time margin and the power margin. It is confirmed that the power can be enabled to uprate about 12% through best-estimate calculations.