Reaction kinetic analysis of reactor surveillance data

Abstract

a b s t r a c tIn reactor pressure vessel surveillance data, it was found that the concentration of matrix defects was very low even after nearly 40 years of operation, though a large number of precipitates existed. In this paper, defect structures obtained from surveillance data of A533B (high Cu concentration) were simulated using reaction kinetic analysis with 11 rate equations. The coefficients used in the equations were quite different from those obtained by fitting a Fe-0.6 wt%Cu alloy irradiated by the Kyoto University Reactor. The difference was mainly caused by alloying elements in A533B, and the effect of alloying elements was extracted. The same code was applied to low-Cu A533B irradiated with high irradiation damage rate, and the formation of voids was correctly simulated.

Effect of pulse irradiation on the evolution of damage structure

“…The concentrations are expressed in fractional units. These terms are almost the same as those in our previous papers [6,7,8,9]. The values of the coefficients used are listed in Table 1 (Fe) and Table 2 (Al).…”

“…The model used for the calculations is almost the same as that used in previous studies [6,7,8,9], and is based on the rate theory. It describes the reaction rates among point defects and their defect clusters.…”