Study of PRIMAVERA Steel Samples by a Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy Technique

In the present article, a positron annihilation spectroscopy investigation of VVER-440/230 weld materials is discussed. Important characteristics of metals such as Fermi energy, concentration of electrons in the conduction band, size and concentration of defects were experimentally determined for three model materials with higher level of copper (0.16 wt.%) and phosphorus (0.027-0.038 wt.%). The impact of neutron irradiation and subsequent annealing on crystal lattice parameters was investigated. The experiments complement the published PAS studies of the radiation treated VVER materials as well as previous experiments on PRIMAVERA materials with the angular correlation of positron annihilation radiation (PAS-ACAR) measurements. The availability of the experimental reactor to prepare strong 64Cu positron sources provided for unique experimental conditions, such as good resolution of spectra (0.4 mrad) and reasonable short time of measurement (36hours). The present paper aims to contribute to further understanding of RVP steels behavior under irradiation conditions as well as annealing recovery procedures, which have already been applied at several VVER NPP units in Europe.

GRAFUTIN V.;  ILYUKHINA O.;  KRSJAK Vladimir;  BURCL Rudolf;  HAEHNER Peter;  ERAK D.;  ZEMAN Andrej; 

2010-10-13

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

JRC57044

0022-3115,   

www.elsevier.com/locate/jnucmat,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC57044,   

10.1016/j.jnucmat.2010.08.046,