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Under certain severe accident conditions, the fuel rods of nuclear power plants are exposed to high temperature/pressure steam environments in which the Zr alloy cladding is rapidly oxidized. As alternative claddings, the oxidation resistances of SiC-based materials and stainless steels with high Cr and/or Al additions have been examined from 800-1200 °C in high-pressure steam environments. Very low reaction kinetics were observed with alumina-forming FeCrAl alloys at 1200 °C while Fe-Cr alloys with only 15-20% Cr were rapidly attacked.