Patent ID: 7738620
Filing Date: 2010-06-15
Classification: C22C,G21C,Y02E

Abstract:
1. A method of manufacturing a fuel cladding tube for a nuclear reactor, the method comprising: preparing an ingot of zirconium alloy consisting of, in percentages by weight: the balance being zirconium and impurities that result from preparation; forging the ingot followed by quenching, drawing, and thermomechanical treatments including cold rolling with intervening intermediate annealing, all of the intermediate annealing operations being performed at a temperature below the α→α+β transus temperature of the alloy, and terminating with recrystallization annealing and obtaining a tube; and performing mechanical polishing of an outside surface of the tube to give it roughness Ra less than or equal to 0.5 μm.