Tiny hydrides reveal hidden stresses that can crack nuclear reactor pressure tubes

Executive Briefing & Key Highlights

Western University engineers have taken a major step toward solving a long-standing challenge in nuclear power. Their study, published in Nature Communications, describes for the first time how hydrogen can combine with zirconium to form tiny, brittle structures that create intense stresses in CANDU reactor pressure tubes. These stresses may cause the surrounding metal to deform and even crack.