Irradiation resistance of chromium coatings for ATFC in the temperature range 300-550°C

Abstract Within the accident tolerant fuel cladding (ATFC) concept, chromium coatings appear to be promising for protecting zirconium alloys from high temperature oxidation. The effects of high energy heavy ion irradiation in the temperature range of 300-550°C on the structure of chromium coatings deposited on Zr-based (E110) alloy substrate by the cathodic arc evaporation method were studied. Isotropic growth of the grain size in chromium coatings from the initial 250 nm to 476 nm at 550°C is caused by irradiation with 1.4 MeV argon ions to the dose of 25 displacements per atom (dpa). Maximum swelling up to 1.6 % was observed under the irradiation temperature of 500°C.