Title: Post-irradiation annealing and re-irradiation review

Authors: A.A. Chernobaeva

Addresses: Kurchatov Institute, 1, Kurchatov Sq., Moscow 123182, Russia

Abstract: This paper summarises the review of 92 papers, most of them selected from the ODIN database made within the framework of the project |Nuclear Knowledge Preservation & Consolidation, WWER – WS2| managed by JRC EC. The papers contain the experimental results concerning post-irradiation annealing and re-irradiation of WWER RPV materials. The results published in these papers have been obtained in RRC KI, VTT, NRI Rez, Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, with the international cooperation between RRC KI, VTT-Fortum, JRC EC and ITEP, RRC KI and ORNL, and IAEA International Project. The following problems are examined in the review: evolution of RPV materials properties and structure under irradiation; recovery of irradiated RPV materials properties and structure under annealing; chemical composition effect on transition temperature of irradiated RPV materials recovery; effect of fluence on WWER RPV materials mechanical properties recovery due to annealing; microstructure evolution due to post-irradiation annealing; effect of post-irradiation annealing on mechanical properties of irradiated WWER-1000 RPV materials; re-irradiation behaviour; surveillance programme for the post-annealing operation; assessment of the RPV state; technical problems concerning annealing; and licensing problems for annealing.

Keywords: irradiation; post-irradiation annealing; re-irradiation; residual embrittlement; recovery; re-embrittlement; trepans; templates; APT; atom probe tomography; literature review; nuclear knowledge management; nuclear knowledge preservation; WWER; RPV materials; licensing; chemical composition; transition temperature; fluence; mechanical properties; microstructure; reactor pressure vessels; nuclear reactors; nuclear energy; nuclear power.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNKM.2011.040152

International Journal of Nuclear Knowledge Management, 2011 Vol.5 No.1, pp.4 - 39

Published online: 18 Feb 2015 *

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