Mechanism of corrosion of zirconium hydride and impact of precipitated hydrides on the Zircaloy-4 corrosion behaviour

In Pressurized Water Reactors, zirconium hydrides precipitate in the matrix and could increase the oxidation rate of the claddings. To understand their effect, corrosion tests, TEM and μ-XRD analyses have been performed. This work showed that the oxidation rate and the oxygen diffusion coefficient in the oxide formed on massive hydride are much greater than those of Zircaloy-4. Moreover, oxide characterizations indicated an additional phase indexed as the sub-oxide Zr3O between the oxide film and the massive hydride. Finally, the hydrogen of the hydrides is not incorporated in the oxide during the corrosion process.