Radiation effects in nuclear reactor materials— correlation with structure

Abstract

A review of radiation effects in nuclear reactor materials has been made; the irradiation effects have been correlated with the crystal structure of the materials. Five phenomena, irradiation hardening, irradiation embrittlement, irradiation creep, irradiation growth and void swelling that occur in materials by neutron irradiation in a reactor environment have been discussed with a view to explaining the physics of the phenomena and the engineering consequences. Metallurgical approaches for improving the irradiation performance of materials and for developing new alloys with better resistance to radiation damage have been pointed out.