Conducting Well-Controlled Ion Irradiations To Understand Neutron Irradiation Effects In Materials

摘要

A firm understanding of the effect of radiation on materials is required to develop predictive models of materials behavior in-reactor and provide a foundation for creating new, more radiation-tolerant materials. Ion irradiation can serve this purpose for nuclear reactor components and is becoming a key element of materials development for advanced nuclear reactors. Ion irradiations can be conducted quickly, at low cost, and with precise control over irradiation temperature, temperature uniformity, dose rate, dose uniformity and total dose. During proton irradiations the 2sigma (twice the standard deviation) of the sample temperature is generally below approx7 deg C, the dose rate variation approx3percent, the dose uncertainty approx3percent, and there is an excellent temperature and dose uniformity across the irradiated area. In this article, we describe the experimental setup and irradiation procedure used to conduct well-controlled ion irradiations at the University of Michigan.