HVEM study of the effects of alloying elements and impurities on radiation damage in Zr-alloys

Abstract

The effect of alloying additions and impurities on radiation damage in Zr-alloys has been studied using a high voltage electron microscope (HVEM). The electron damage results have been compared with neutron damage results for the same materials. There is some qualtitative agreement between the two techniques in that the relative susceptibility to c-component loop formation is the same in both the neutron and electron case. Cavity formation, however, occurs more readily during electron irradiation. Because of the relationship between c-component loop formation and accelerated growth, these results show that electron irradiation using a HVEM can provide a preliminary indication of the susceptibility of Zr-alloys to accelerated growth prior to their use in nuclear reactors.