Physical, chemical and mechanical evolution of the fuel-cladding interface in irradiated PWR fuel rods

During the fuel irradiation in nuclear reactor, the fuel-cladding assembly is exposed to several irradiation-induced modifications. The fuel swelling coupled with cladding creep leads to a contact between the fuel and the cladding. The oxygen transport from the UO2 fuel to the zirconium layer induces progressively the Zr-cladding oxidation. This oxidation is initially local with the formation of islets. Then, with the increasing burnup of the fuel, it conducts to a continuous layer of about 8-µm thickness, localized at the fuel-cladding interface. At high burnup, zirconia growths anchor themselves in the periphery of the fuel (which is restructured) leading to pellet/cladding interlocking. …