Role of nickel in a semi-mechanistic analytical model for radiation embrittlement of model alloys

A model based on key embrittlement mechanisms is proposed for the analysis. The advantages of such semi-mechanistic model, when compared to non-mechanistic models, is that it allows improved fitting of data and permits the visualization of the relative contribution to embrittlement of the various damage components. Data from a set of model alloys with parametric variation of the Cu, P and Ni contents, irradiated in the High Flux Reactor Petten (The Netherlands) and Kola Nuclear Power Plant (Russia), have been thoroughly analysed. The low Ni model alloys results are studied in detail showing the semi-mechanistic model capabilities and their potential for application to commercial steels and welds; in particular for those used in Russian pressure water reactor (VVER). The additional effect of Ni and its influence in the model are also presented in this article. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.