Westinghouse Electric Sweden Ab

Gunnar Hultquist

Magnus Limbäck

Gunnar Wikmark

Per Tägtström

Eric Hörnlund

In a nuclear fuel rod a cladding tube is provided having a closed inner space and manufactured from at least one of the materials in the group zirconium and a zirconium-based alloy, and a pile of nuclear fuel pellets arranged in the inner space in the cladding tube. The nuclear fuel pellets fill part of the inner space. A fill gas is arranged in the closed inner space to fill the rest of the inner space. The internal pressure of the fill gas in the nuclear fuel rod amounts to at least 2 bar (abs) or at least 10 bar (abs). The fill gas contains a proportion of inert gas a proportion of carbon monoxide that is greater than 3 volume percent of the fill gas or greater than 2 volume percent of the fill gas.

Nuclear fuel rod

The present invention relates to a component () comprising an element (), which contains zirconium or a zirconium alloy and which has a surface () on which a corrosion protective layer () is formed, the oxide layer () comprising zirconium oxide. The component () is intended to be in an oxidising environment () and said oxide layer () has an outer surface () towards said oxidising environment (). The element () comprises a layer (), that borders said surface () and comprises hydrogen and at least one metal from the group of lanthanum elements and/or from the group platinum metals and/or yttrium which in its elemental form or as an oxide have the ability to effectively dissociate oxygen and HO. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing the component () and a nuclear facility comprising the component ().

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Stallarholmen, Sweden

Gunnar Hultquist