The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 15, 2010
Filed:
Jul. 19, 2005
Pierre Barberis, Ugine, FR;
Jean-paul Mardon, Caluire, FR;
Véronique Rebeyrolle, Duingt, FR;
Jean-luc Aubin, St Brevin, FR;
Pierre Barberis, Ugine, FR;
Jean-Paul Mardon, Caluire, FR;
Véronique Rebeyrolle, Duingt, FR;
Jean-Luc Aubin, St Brevin, FR;
Areva NP, Courbevoie, FR;
Abstract
A method for production of a fuel cladding tube for a nuclear reactor, characterized by the preparation of an ingot of an alloy of zirconium with the following composition by weight %: 0.8%≦Nb≦2.8%, traces≦Sn≦0.65%, 0.015%≦Fe≦0.40%, C≦100 ppm, 600 ppm≦O≦2300 ppm, 5 ppm≦S≦100 ppm, Cr+V≦0.25%, Hf≦75 ppm and F≦1 ppm the remainder being zirconium and impurities arising from production. The ingot is then subjected to forging, a hardening and thermomoechanical treatments comprising cold laminations separated by intermediate annealing, all intermediate annealings being carried out at a temperature below the α→α+β transition temperature of the alloy, finishing with a recrystallization annealing and resulting in the production of a tube, whereupon an optional external cleaning of the tube is carried out and a mechanical polishing of the external surface of the tube is carried out to give a roughness Ra less than or equal to 0.5 μm. The invention further relates to a fuel cladding tube obtained thereby.