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The Gas-cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) is one system of the Generation IV International Forum systems studied by CEA (France). The coolant considered is helium pressurized at 7 MPa and the nominal working temperature is about 1300 K. In case of accident, the reactor temperature can reach 1900 to 2300 K. Several studies are carried out to determine the physico-chemical behavior of structural materials undergoing various environmental constraints. The cladding material currently considered is SiC. Numerical calculations are carried out to determine the transition between passive and active oxidation regimes. Then an experimental study is performed to fix the position of the transition and to study the oxidation resistance of the two polymorphs α- and β-SiC at high temperature (1300 to 2300 K), coupled to a material characterization based on mass variation, SEM, XPS, AFM and roughness analyses.