Development of Chinese Advanced Zirconium Alloys

The current situation on research and development of zirconium alloys at home and abroad is summarized in the paper. The research results of Chinese advanced zirconium alloys are mainly described. The results obtained from the out-of-pile performance tests on these advanced alloys cladding materials show that two kinds of new zirconium alloys possess superior out-of-pile corrosion resistance including uniform and nodular corrosion, and their hydrogen absorption rates are quite low compared to that of Zi-4. And these alloys have demonstrated superior out-of-pile tensile strength, burst and creep properties relative to Zr-4. In addition, the thermal physical properties, texture, SCC for two alloys were examined, which also show good results compared with Zr-4.