The effect of dose rate on the response of austenitic stainless steels to neutron radiation

Depending on reactor design and component location, austenitic stainless steels may experience significantly different irradiation dose rates in the same reactor. Understanding the effect of dose rate on radiation performance is important to predicting component lifetime. This study examined the effect of dose rate on swelling, grain boundary segregation, and tensile properties in austenitic stainless steels through the examination of components retrieved from the Experimental Breeder Reactor-II (EBR-II) following its shutdown. Annealed 304 stainless steel, stress-relieved 304 stainless steel, 12% cold-worked 316 stainless steel, and 20% cold-worked 316 stainless steel were irradiated over a dose range of 1–56 dpa at temperatures from 371 to 440 °C and dose rates from 0.5 to 5.8 × 10−7 dpa/s. Density and tensile properties were measured for 304 and 316 stainless steel. Changes in grain boundary composition were examined for 304 stainless steel. Swelling appears to increase at lower dose rates in both 304 and 316 stainless steel, although the effect was not always statistically significant. Grain boundary segregation also appears to increase at lower dose rate in 304 stainless steel. For the range of dose rates examined, no measurable dose rate effect on tensile properties was noted for any of the steels.