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Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic steels are considered promising candidates as cladding tubes for Generation IV nuclear reactors. In such reactors, irradiation damage can reach more than 150 dpa at temperatures ranging from 400 to 650 °C. Thus nanoparticle stability has to be guaranteed in order to ensure that these materials possess excellent creep properties. Using Fe ions, ODS steels were irradiated at 500 °C up to 150 dpa. At this temperature the nano-oxide population evolution under irradiation is similar to that observed after annealing at high temperature. It consists of a slight increase in the particle size and a slight decrease in the density, which can be both explained by an Ostwald ripening mechanism. Conversely, irradiations performed at room temperature using Au ions lead to a complete dissolution of the oxide particles, in agreement with the estimation of ballistic vs. radiation enhanced diffusion effects

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Single and dual-beam irradiations of oxide (c-ZrO2, MgO, Gd2Ti2O7) and carbide (SiC) single crystals were performed to study combined effects of nuclear (S-n) and electronic (S-e) energy losses. Rutherford backscattering experiments in channeling conditions show that the S-n/S-e cooperation induces a strong decrease of the irradiation-induced damage in SiC and MgO and almost no effects in c-ZrO2 and Gd2Ti2O7. The healing process is ascribed to electronic excitations arising from the electronic energy loss of swift ions. These results present a strong interest for both fundamental understanding of the ion-solid interactions and technological applications in the nuclear industry where expected cooperative S-n/S-e effects may lead to the preservation of the integrity of nuclear devices. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC

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a b s t r a c t RAFM steels such as Eurofer-97 and Eurofer-ODS are potential structural materials for future fusion reactors. In order to study their resistance to the high energy neutrons they will be subjected to in this context, we have irradiated these materials in single-, dual-and triple-beam mode to 26 dpa at 400 C. In single-beam mode (Fe ions only), both materials resist swelling but dislocation loops form. For dual-(Fe and He ions) and triple-beam (Fe, He and H) modes, the same dislocation loop microstructure is observed as for the single-beam mode, but small cavities form, aided by the presence of gases. Despite the formation of cavities, swelling is very low for the present conditions. The influence of ODS particles on swelling is briefly discussed.

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