Void swelling of AISI 321 analog stainless steel irradiated at low dpa rates in the BN-350 reactor

In several recently published studies conducted on a Soviet analog of AISI 321 stainless steel irradiated in either fast reactors or light water reactors, it was shown that the void swelling phenomenon extended to temperatures as low as ∼300 °C or less, when produced by neutron irradiation at dpa rates in the range 10−7–10−8 dpa/s. Other studies yielded similar results for AISI 316 and the Russian analog of AISI 316. In the current study a blanket assembly duct from BN-350, constructed from the Soviet analog of AISI 321, also exhibits swelling at dpa rates on the order of 10−8 dpa/s, with voids seen as low as 281 °C and only 0.65 dpa. It appears that low-temperature swelling occurs at low dpa rates in 300 series stainless steels in general, and also occurs during irradiations conducted in either fast or in mixed spectrum reactors as shown in other studies.