Physicochemical Behavior of Impurity Atoms Formed by Nuclear Transmutation in the Course of Post-Radiation Annealing of Irradiated Cadmium Metal

Abstract

The mechanism of impurity atom transfer during annealing of irradiated cadmium targets was studied. Structural transformations of the irradiated metal are accompanied by accelerated migration of Sn and In. It was found that the migration rate of impurity atoms depends on the nuclear history (radiation dose, type and energy of the bombarding particles), and the transfer rate decreases during post-radiation annealing of the metal. To explain the abnormal behavior of impurities, the transfer mechanism was proposed, which takes into account irregularity of the metal crystal structure after irradiation and structural transformations, and also possible stabilization forms of transmutation nuclides in the irradiated cadmium (at the substitution and intercalation positions and at the crystallite grain boundary).