Abstract: Method of manufacturing zirconium alloy tubular products containing (wt. %): niobium—0.9-1.7; iron—0.04-0.10; oxygen—0.03-0.10; silicon—less than 0.02, carbon—less than 0.02, and zirconium—as the base of the alloy. This includes an ingot melting by multiple vacuum arc remelting, mechanical processing of the ingot, heating, hot working of the ingot, subsequent mechanical processing for the production of tubular billets, heat treatment of the tubular billets, application of a protective coating and heating to a hot pressing temperature, hot pressing, removal of the protective coating, multi-stage cold radial forging, vacuum thermal treatment, multiple cold rolling runs with a total deformation degree of 50-80-% per run and a tubular coefficient of Q=1.0-2.7 with intermediate vacuum thermal treatment after each cold rolling operation, and final vacuum thermal treatment of the resulting tubular products carried out at the final size with subsequent final finishing operations.

Abstract: A zirconium-based alloy for the components of the active core of nuclear reactors comprises (on a weight percent basis): niobium, 0.5-3.0; iron, 0.005-0.5; oxygen, 0.03-0.2; carbon, 0.001-0.04; silicon, 0.002-0.1; nickel, 0.003-0.02; zirconium being the balance; the alloy structure is characterized by an &agr;-solid solution and the &bgr; Nb-phase particles sized below 0.1 &mgr;m and having the niobium content of from 60 to 95%. The alloy may further comprise particles of intermetallics Zr—Fe—Nb with the Fe/Nb ratio of 0.05-0.2. The alloy structure may also be characterized by an oxygen-hardened &agr;-solid solution and by the &bgr; Nb-phase particles, and may further comprise particles of intermetallics Zr—Fe—Nb sized below 0.3 &mgr;m.