Calculation and analysis of gamma-induced irradiation damage cross section

Abstract

Due to the discrepancies of gamma-induced Displacement per Atom (DPA) cross sections among different calculations, the present work identifies the sources of the discrepancies and recommends the computation of displacement cross sections induced by photons, including the stopping power for electrons and positrons, the differential scattering cross sections, and the gamma-matter interactions. The production of electrons and positrons and the corresponding gamma-induced damage cross sections computed with the above methods are validated against Monte Carlo simulations. The damage cross section for Photoelectric Effect (PE) is negligible for incident photon energy higher than 2 MeV. Above 2 MeV, the percentage of atomic displacement for Compton Scattering (CS) decreases with incident energy, while that for Pair Production (PP) increases and becomes more important than CS above 10 MeV. In the PP, it is recommended to differently treat positrons and electrons for damage calculations because positrons produce 68–77% of DPA induced by electrons. 9.8 × 10−10 DPA/year gamma-induced displacement is obtained in the heavy reflector of PERLE experiment using the recommended damage cross sections. Neglecting the influence of moderator on photon flux in reflector, 8.1 × 10−4 DPA/year gamma-induced displacement damage is found in the reflector of Evolutionary Pressurized Reactor (EPR).