  We present quantum molecular dynamics calculations of thermophysical
properties of solid and liquid zirconium in the vicinity of melting. An
overview of available experimental data is also presented. We focus on the
analysis of thermal expansion, molar enthalpy, resistivity and normal spectral
emissivity of solid and liquid Zr. Possible reasons of discrepancies between
the first-principle simulations and experiments are discussed. Our calculations
reveal a significant volume change on melting in agreement with electrostatic
levitation experiments. Meanwhile, we confirm a low value of enthalpy of fusion
obtained in some pulse-heating experiments. Electrical resistivity of solid and
liquid Zr is systematically underestimated in our simulations, however the
slope of resistivity temperature dependencies agrees with experiment. Our
calculations predict almost constant normal spectral emissivity in liquid Zr.
