ANS is committed to advancing, fostering, and promoting the development and application of nuclear sciences and technologies to benefit society.
Explore the many uses for nuclear science and its impact on energy, the environment, healthcare, food, and more.
Explore membership for yourself or for your organization.
Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
Latest Magazine Issues
Jul 2025
Jan 2025
Latest Journal Issues
Nuclear Science and Engineering
August 2025
Nuclear Technology
Fusion Science and Technology
Latest News
ANS joins others in seeking to discuss SNF/HLW impasse
The American Nuclear Society joined seven other organizations to send a letter to Energy Secretary Christopher Wright on July 8, asking to meet with him to discuss “the restoration of a highly functioning program to meet DOE’s legal responsibility to manage and dispose of the nation’s commercial and legacy defense spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLW).”
Akira Shibata, Yoshiaki Kato, Taketoshi Taguchi, Masatoshi Futakawa, Katsuhiro Maekawa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 196 | Number 1 | October 2016 | Pages 89-99
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NT16-54
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Zircaloy-4 has been widely used as a nuclear fuel cladding material. However, recently, several European countries have gradually replaced Zircaloy-4 cladding material in pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plants with a Zr-Nb alloy called M5 and other new zirconium alloys with Nb added that are expected to have relatively longer operating lives. Although improved corrosion resistance of the advanced zirconium alloys was demonstrated in various conditions, the origin of this resistance has not yet been elucidated. In this study, corrosion tests were performed on Zircaloy-4 and M5 under simulated PWR water conditions to explore the origin of the better corrosion resistance of the advanced zirconium alloys. Alloy specimens were exposed to simulated PWR conditions, and the increase in oxide film content was analyzed by weight gain and microscopy observations. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was performed on Zircaloy-4 and M5 in the pretransition period of oxide film to compare their corrosion properties. The EIS results obtained in this study show that the electrochemical behavior of M5 is significantly different from that of Zircaloy-4 in the early period of the initial stage in the pretransition oxidation process. To explain the result, a multilayer circuit model is assumed. The resistance of the diffusion layer comprising multiple layers restricts the rate of oxidation in the M5 response system. The occurrence of this process caused by multilayered oxide film would contribute to improved corrosion resistance of M5 under PWR water conditions.