Microstructural changes in a Russian-type reactor weld material after neutron irradiation, post-irradiation annealing and re-irradiation studied by atom probe tomography and positron annihilation spectroscopy

We present a microstructural study of a surveillance test specimen from a reactor pressure vessel steel of a Russian-type nuclear reactor after neutron irradiation, post-irradiation annealing and re-irradiation, using atom probe tomography (APT) and positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS). The APT results showed the formation of Cu-rich solute nano-clusters (CRCs) during the initial irradiation and their subsequent coarsening during annealing. After re-irradiation, new CRCs have been observed. The irradiation-hardening almost recovered during annealing. However, by re-irradiation, hardening comparable to that by the initial irradiation was observed. The hardening due to the CRCs formed during the initial irradiation, estimated using the Russell-Brown model, was almost the same as that observed. However, the estimated hardening after the re-irradiation was about half of the measured one. The other hardening is attributed to the newly formed MDs by the re-irradiation, which was evidenced by PAS.