RADIATION DAMAGE FROM DIFFERENT PARTICLE TYPES

Abstract

In the 1960s and 70s, heavy ion irradiation was being developed for the purpose of simulating neutron damage in support of the fast breeder reactor program. [1-3] Ion irradiation and simultaneous He injection have also been used to simulate the effects of 14 MeV neutron damage in conjunction with the fusion reactor engineering program. Lately, the application of ion irradiation (defined here as any charged particle, including electrons) to the study of neutron irradiation damage is being revisited by the light water reactor community in an effort to solve the irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) problem. [4-6], as additionally, ion irradiation is being used to understand performance in reactor pressure vessel steels, Zircaloy fuel cladding, materials for advanced reactor concepts in the GenIV program and materials for the advanced fuel cycle initiative, AFCI. While the environment plays a role in IASCC, the appearance of a “threshold” fluence demonstrates that the observed behavior is strongly related to irradiation-induced changes in the alloy that may involve microstructural changes, microchemical changes, transmutation, or some synergistic combination of these effects.