After the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, the accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) technology for improving the stability and security of nuclear reactors at the loss-of-coolant accident conditions has been a research focus across the world. The cladding coating technology is the main heading direction of ATF in the short-term planning. Without changing the industrial chain of current nuclear cladding tube, the zirconium alloy cladding coated with protective coating can effectively improve the capability of accident tolerance at the loss-of-coolant accident conditions. Due to the inherent size effect and interfacial effect,nanolaminated coatings exhibit excellent nuclear performance, and are regarded as a kind of potential ATF cladding coating materials. This paper reviewed the recent progress in research on nanolaminated coatings on the surface of zirconium alloy cladding, mainly including the category, preparation technology and service performance of nanolaminated coatings. Moreover, the performance advantage and application prospect of nanolaminated coatings were summarized with prospecting the future development.