Radiation Effects in Refractory Alloys

In order to achieve the required low reactor mass per unit electrical power for space reactors, refractory alloys are essential due to their high operating temperature capability that in turn enables high thermal conversion efficiencies. One of the key issues associated with refractory alloys is their performance in a neutron irradiation environment. The available radiation effects data are reviewed for alloys based on Mo, W, Re, Nb and Ta. The largest database is associated with Mo alloys, whereas Re, W and Ta alloys have the least available information. Particular attention is focused on Nb‐1Zr, which is a proposed cladding and structural material for the reactor in the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) project. All of the refractory alloys exhibit qualitatively similar temperature‐dependent behavior. At low temperatures up to ∼0.3TM, where TM is the melting temperature, the dominant effect of radiation is to produce pronounced radiation hardening and concomitant loss of ductility. The radiation hardening also causes a dramatic decrease in the fracture toughness of the refractory alloys. These low temperature radiation effects occur at relatively low damage levels of ∼0.1 displacement per atom, dpa (∼2×1024 n/m2, E>0.1 MeV). As a consequence, operation at low temperatures in the presence of neutron irradiation must be avoided for all refractory alloys. At intermediate temperatures (0.3 to 0.6 TM), void swelling and irradiation creep are the dominant effects of irradiation. The amount of volumetric swelling associated with void formation in refractory alloys is generally within engineering design limits ( >10 dpa). Very little experimental data exist on irradiation creep of refractory alloys, but data for other body centered cubic alloys suggest that the irradiation creep will produce negligible deformation for near‐term space reactor applications.