Neutron irradiation hardening of chemically-tailored RPV steels with respect to Cu/P and Ni/Mn elements

摘要

Copper and phosphorus as impurities and nickel as alloying element were already a long time ago identified to significantly affect radiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel materials. As a result, the Cu-content in RPV materials is limited to less than 0.1 wt%, the P-content to less than 0.01 wt% and the Ni-content to less than similar to 1 wt%. These three elements are explicitly considered in most of the available embrittlement trend curves. Beside Cu, P and Ni, also Mn and Si were also proposed to influence irradiation embrittlement. Indeed, these two elements are found in the irradiation-induced solute clusters examined with atom probe tomography.