Characterization of neutron-irradiated ferritic model alloys and a RPV steel from combined APT, SANS, TEM and PAS analyses

Understanding the behavior of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels under irradiation is a mandatory task that has to be elucidated in order to be able to operate safely a nuclear power plant or to extend its lifetime. To build up predictive tools, a substantial experimental data base is needed at the nanometre scale to extract quantitative information on neutron-irradiated materials and to validate the theoretical models. To reach this experimental goal, ferritic model alloys and French RPV steel were neutron irradiated in a test reactor at an irradiation flux of 9 x 10(17) nm(-2) s, doses from 0.18 to 1.3 x 10(24) nm(-2) and 300 degrees C. The main goal of this paper is to report the characterization of the radiation-induced microstructural change in the materials by using the state-of-the-art of characterization techniques available in Europe at the nanometre scale. Possibilities, limitations and complementarities of the techniques to each other are highlighted. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.