HVEM STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF ALLOYING ELEMENTS AND IMPURITIES ON RADIATION-DAMAGE IN ZR-ALLOYS

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 dam age results for the same materials. There is some qualtitative agreeme nt 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 form ation and accelerated growth, these results show that electron irradia tion using a HVEM can provide a preliminary indication of the suscepti bility of Zr-alloys to accelerated growth prior to their use in nuclea r reactors.