Radiation effects concerns at a spallation source

Conference · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6908311

Sommer, W F

Materials used at spallation neutron sources are exposed to energetic particle and photon radiation. Mechanical and physical properties of these materials are altered; radiation damage on the atomic scale leads to radiation effects on the macroscopic scale. Most notable among mechanical-property radiation effects in metals and metal alloys are changes in tensile strength and ductility, changes in rupture strength, dimensional stability and volumetric swelling, and dimensional changes due to stress-induced creep. Physical properties such as electrical resistivity also are altered. The fission-reactor community has accumulated a good deal of data on material radiation effects. However, when the incident particle energy exceeds 50 MeV or so, a new form of radiation damage ensues; spallation reactions lead to more energetic atom recoils and the subsequent temporal and spatial distribution of point defects is much different from that due to a fission-reactor environment. In addition, spallation reactions cause atomic transmutations with these new atoms representing an impurity in the metal. The higher-energy case is of interest at spallation sources; limited detailed data exist for material performance in this environment. 35 refs., 13 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 6908311
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-90-1142; CONF-9003100-4; ON: DE90010567; TRN: 90-026904
• Resource Relation: Conference: International workshop on cold neutron sources, Los Alamos, NM (USA), 5-8 Mar 1990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALLOYS
PHYSICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
METALS
NEUTRON SOURCES
DAMAGING NEUTRON FLUENCE
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
MAGNETIC MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
PROTON BEAMS
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
SPALLATION
BEAMS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELEMENTS
MATERIALS
NEUTRON FLUENCE
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEON BEAMS
PARTICLE BEAMS
PARTICLE SOURCES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATION SOURCES
430301* - Particle Accelerators- Ion Sources
360106 - Metals & Alloys- Radiation Effects