Technical Meeting on Advanced Technology Fuels:Progress on their Design, Manufacturing, Experimentation, Irradiation, and Case Studies for their Industrialization, Safety Evaluation, and Future Prospects

AN OVERVIEW OF CEA LOCA SEPARATE EFFECTS TESTING APPLIED TO CHROMIUM-COATED ZIRCONIUM ALLOY CLADDINGS

29 Oct 2025, 11:50

25m

Vienna International Center

Experimental Testing of ATF Materials and Validation Database 2

Speaker

Ali Charbal (CEA, Service de Recherche en Matériaux et procédés Avancés, Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France)

Description

This presentation will focus on the behaviour of Cr-coated zirconium alloy claddings under LOCA conditions. Among the various coating concepts investigated by CEA over the past 15 years, particular attention has been paid to chromium coatings deposited via Physical Vapour Deposition – High Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (PVD-HiPIMS), identified early on as a promising candidate for enhanced accident tolerance. The presentation will provide an overview of key findings based on a series of published studies by CEA, covering experimental methods and dedicated test facilities used to assess the performance of these coatings under both isothermal and ramped thermal loading, including ballooning, burst, and high-temperature steam oxidation.

Presentation materials

2025_10_29-IAEA_TM_EATF_Overview_CEA_Works_on_Cr_coating_using_SETS_fv.pdf

2025_IAEA_Vienne_Extended_abstract_CEA_SETs_Cr-coated-Zr_LOCA_AC_JCB_JMV_v7.pdf