Manufacture of zirconium cladding tube with internal liner
US5620536A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 11, 1994 |
| Grant date | Apr 15, 1997 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 11, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY02E30/30
- WIPO fieldEngines, pumps, turbines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A method of manufacturing nuclear fuel elements which include fuel rods whose cladding tubes are provided with an internal liner layer to obtain PCT resistance in the nuclear fuel element involves carefully choosing parameters for heat treatment of the inner component even from the machining of an ingot of the inner component. The internal layer of zirconium or a zirconium alloy, suitable as inner layer in a PCI-resistant cladding, from the fabrication of an ingot of the inner component up to the completion of a cladding tube, including forging, rolling, extrusion, heat treatment and final heat treatment, is manufactured in such a way that the temperature in the inner component never exceeds the temperature when an incipient phase transformation to beta phase takes place.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.