Abstract
Bombardment with 65 keV neon ions has been used to simulate the effects of high neutron doses on oxidized Zr. The electrical conductivity of anodic oxide films was enhanced for doses above 10 μA-min on a few square millimetres, but their ultraviolet absorption was not detectably altered for doses up to 100 μA-min. Doses above 10 μA-min sputtered away the surface of the oxide film with an anisotropic sputtering ratio of roughly 0·1. Thinly oxidized specimens that had suffered doses of 1 μA-min and above, when exposed to steam at 250 °C at 1 atm, corroded at a considerably enhanced rate. This effect appeared to be independent of dose rate and to be an increasing function of dose. A thick anodic film showed no effect after 20 μA-min, suggesting that damage to the metal was important. Bare zirconium and Zircaloy 2 specimens were irradiated to doses high enough to remove the air-formed film by sputtering. These also showed enhanced subsequent corrosion.
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