Property changes of G347A graphite due to neutron irradiation

A new, fine-grain nuclear graphite, grade G347A from Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd., has been irradiated in the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to study the materials property changes that occur when exposed to neutron irradiation at temperatures of interest for Generation-IV nuclear reactor applications. Specimen temperatures ranged from 290°C to 800 °C with a maximum neutron fluence of 40 × 1025 n/m2 [E > 0.1 MeV] (∼30dpa). Observed behaviors include: anisotropic behavior of dimensional change in an isotropic graphite, Young's modulus showing parabolic fluence dependence, electrical resistivity increasing at low fluence and additional increase at high fluence, thermal conductivity rapidly decreasing at low fluence followed by continued degradation, and a similar plateau value of the mean coefficient of thermal expansion for all irradiation temperatures.