Numerical simulation and experimental verification on the diffusion behavior of tritium in zirconium alloy cladding materials

The research on the diffusion behavior of tritium in zirconium alloy is a crucial problem for nuclear power plant radiation safety evaluation. Based on the basic model of tritium diffusion, a one-dimensional simulation program for the behavior of tritium diffusion was established in this work. The simulation program was verified by typical experiments, and the simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental results. The effects of different concentration and temperature distribution of tritium on the diffusion behavior of tritium in zirconium alloy cladding materials were analyzed. The results show that the increase of tritium concentration in P-C gap lead to the increase of tritium diffusion flux and permeability flux in and out of cladding. Due to the relatively low diffusion coefficient of the coated oxide layer, the existence of the coated oxide layer limits the tritium permeability greatly. The effect of temperature on the diffusion rate of tritium is exponential. The higher the temperature is, the faster the diffusion rate is. The relative low temperature of the oxide layer on the outer surface of zirconium alloy limits the rate of tritium permeation out of the cladding tube. Thermally induced diffusion due to temperature gradient is beneficial to limit the permeation flux of tritium diffusing out of the zirconium cladding.