Science. 1971 Sep 10;173(4001):987-91. doi: 10.1126/science.173.4001.987.
Significant swelling (1 to 10 percent due to small voids have been found in stainless steel when it is exposed to fast neutron doses less than expected in commercial fast breeder reactors. The main features of this new effect are: (i) the voids are formed by the precipitation of a small fraction of the radiation-produced vacancies; (ii) the voids form primarily in the temperature range 400 degrees to 600 degrees C (750 degrees to 1100 degrees F); and (iii) the volume increases with dose (fluence) at a rate between linear and parabolic. The limited temperature range of void formation can be explained, but the effects of fluence, microstructure, and composition are determined by a competition between several kinetic processes that are not well understood. This swelling does not affect the feasibility or safety of the breeder reactor,but will have a significant impact on the core design and economics of the breeder.Preliminary results indicate that one cannot eliminate the effect,but cold-working,heat treatment, or small changes in composition can reduce the swelling by a factor of 2 or more. Testing is hampered by the fact that several years in EBR-II are required to accumulate the fluence expected in demonstration plants. Heavyion accelerators,which allow damage rates corresponding to much higher fluxes than those found in EBR-II,hold great promise for short-term tests that will indicate the relative effect of the important variables.
在快中子辐照剂量低于商用快中子增殖反应堆预期值的情况下，不锈钢中发现了 1%至 10%的显著肿胀（small voids），这些小空洞是由辐照产生的空位的一小部分沉淀形成的。这种新效应的主要特征是：（i）空位是由辐照产生的空位的一小部分沉淀形成的；（ii）空位主要在 400 度至 600 度（750 度至 1100 度 F）的温度范围内形成；（iii）体积随剂量（通量）增加呈线性至抛物线状增加。这种肿胀不会影响增殖反应堆的可行性或安全性，但会对增殖堆的堆芯设计和经济性产生重大影响。初步结果表明，人们无法消除这种肿胀效应，但冷加工、热处理或成分的微小变化可以使肿胀减少 2 倍或更多。由于需要在 EBR-II 中积累预计在示范工厂中发现的通量，因此测试受到阻碍。重离子加速器为短期测试提供了巨大的希望，这些测试将表明重要变量的相对影响，重离子加速器允许的损伤速率对应于比在 EBR-II 中发现的通量高得多。
