Embrittlement behaviour of different international low activation alloys after neutron irradiation

The embrittlement behaviour of ferritic/martensitic steels after irradiation in the Petten high flux reactor (HFR) was investigated by instrumented Charpy-V tests with subsize specimens. The main objective, apart from studying effects of particularly low doses, was a comparison of low activation alloys (LAA) from various countries with different Cr contents and different types and concentrations of minor alloying elements and impurities. In the present report, the results of another three materials (OPTIMAR, OPTIFER-IV, GA3X) obtained within the second phase of the MANITU programme (0.8 dpa, at 250–450°C) were analysed and assessed in comparison to the results of the first irradiation up to 0.8 dpa. The evaluation clearly showed a reduced embrittlement problem for the advanced reduced-activation alloys. Of the examined alloys, the GA3X steel shows the very best embrittlement behaviour after neutron irradiation.