• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.385-392
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• 2013

Zirconium and zirconium alloys are widely used as nuclear reactor core materials such as fuel cladding and guide tubes because they have excellent corrosion- and radiation-resistant properties. In the reactor core, zirconium alloys are subjected to high-energy neutron fluence, causing radiation-induced dislocation and growth. To discern a possible correlation between radiation-induced dislocation and growth, characteristics of dislocation and growth in zirconium and its alloys are examined. The radiation-induced dislocation including and dislocation loops is reviewed in various temperature and fluence ranges, and their growth behavior is examined in the same way. To further a fundamental understanding, radiation-induced growth prediction models are briefly reviewed. This research will assist in the design of zirconium based components as well as the safety analysis of various reactor conditions, in both research and commercial reactors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.38 no.7
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• pp.619-638
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• 2006

Low temperature irradiation can significantly harden metallic materials and often lead to strain localization and ductility loss in deformation. This paper provides a review on the radiation effects on the deformation of metallic materials, focusing on microscopic and macroscopic strain localization phenomena. The types of microscopic strain localization often observed in irradiated materials are dislocation channeling and deformation twinning, in which dislocation glides are evenly distributed and well confined in the narrow bands, usually a fraction of a micron wide. Dislocation channeling is a common strain localization mechanism observed virtually in all irradiated metallic materials with ductility, while deformation twinning is an alternative localization mechanism occurring only in low stacking fault energy(SFE) materials. In some high stacking fault energy materials where cross slip is easy, curved and widening channels can be formed depending on dose and stress state. Irradiation also prompts macroscopic strain localization (or plastic instability). It is shown that the plastic instability stress and true fracture stress are nearly independent of irradiation dose if there is no radiation-induced phase change or embrittlement. A newly proposed plastic Instability criterion is that the metals after irradiation show necking at yield when the yield stress exceeds the dose-independent plastic instability stress. There is no evident relationship between the microscopic and macroscopic strain localizations; which is explained by the long-range back-stress hardening. It is proposed that the microscopic strain localization is a generalized phenomenon occurring at high stress.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1749-1755
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• 2020

In present study, TEM foils of Ni-Mo-Cr alloy were directly irradiated with 30 keV Ar ions to allow direct characterization. The defects evolution and element segregation after irradiation were investigated by TEM and HAADF-EDS linear scanning. At low irradiation doses (1.38 and 2.76 dpa), black dots were formed and grew with increasing dose. Complicated defects including peas-shaped dislocation loops, polygon dislocation networks and large loops were visible in samples irradiated to high doses (13.8 and 27.6 dpa). Meanwhile, dislocation channels appeared, in which defects were swept out. Significant Mo depletions at dislocation lines and grain boundaries were induced by irradiation due to large misfits between Mo-Ni atoms and high content of Mo.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1277-1283
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• 2024

This study presents a radiation-induced thermal conductivity degradation (TCD) model of zirconium as compared to the conventional UO2 TCD model. We derived the governing factors of the radiation-induced TCD model, such as maximum TCD value and temperature range of TCD. The maximum TCD value was derived by two methods, in which 1) experimental result of 32 % TCD was directly utilized as the maximum TCD value and 2) a theoretical approach based on dislocation was applied to derive the maximum TCD value. Further, the temperature range of TCD was determined to be 437-837 K by 1) experimental results of post-annealing of irradiation hardening as compared to 2) the rate theory and thermal equilibrium. Consequently, the radiation-induced TCD model of zirconium was derived to be $f_r=1-{\frac{0.32}{1+{\exp}\,\{(T-637)/45\}}}$. Because the thermal conductivity of zirconium is one of the factors determining the storage and transport system, this newly proposed model could improve the safety analysis of spent fuel storage systems.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.148-154
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• 2020

The radiation induced segregation of Cr at grain boundaries (GBs) in Ferritic/Martensitic steels was modeled assuming vacancy and interstitialcy diffusion mechanisms. In particular, the dependence of segregation on temperature and grain boundary misorientation angle was analyzed. It is found that Cr enriches at grain boundaries at low temperatures primarily through the interstitialcy mechanism while depletes at high temperatures predominantly through the vacancy mechanism. There is a crossover from Cr enrichment to depletion at an intermediate temperature where the Cr:Fe vacancy and interstitialcy diffusion coefficient ratios intersect. The bell-shape Cr enrichment response is attributed to the decreasing void sinks inside the grains as temperature rises. It is also shown that low angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) and special Σ coincidence-site lattice (CSL) grain boundaries exhibit suppressed radiation induced segregation (RIS) response while high angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) have high RIS segregation. This different behavior is attributed to the variations in dislocation density at different grain boundaries.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.347-351
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• 2020

A material changes its physical and chemical properties through the interaction with radiation and also the neutrons, which is electronically neutral so that the penetration depth is relatively deeper than that of other radioactive way including alpha or beta ray. Therefore, the radiation damage by neutron irradiation has been intensively investigated for a long time with respect to the safety of nuclear power plants. The damage induced by neutron irradiation begins with the creation of point defects in atomic scale in the unit of picoseconds, and their progress pattern can be characterized by microstructural defects, such as dislocation loops and voids. Their morphological characteristics affect the properties of neutron-irradiated materials, therefore, it is very important to predict the microstructure at a given neutron irradiation condition. This paper briefly reviews the evolution of radiation damage induced by neutron irradiation and introduces a phase-field model that can be widely used in predicting the microstructure evolution of irradiated materials.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.398-404
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• 2005

Radioprotection is of practical importance for the normal tissues of tumor patients subject to radiotherapy, people with planned or accidental exposure to radiation, and the public and radiation workers. Since oxygen enhances radiation - induced biological damage, antioxidants should be related with the function as a radioprotectors. Ascorbic acid or caffeine is an essential component and antioxidant in the diet of humans and a small range of other mammals. The present study investigates functional radioprotection of caffeine and ascorbic acid against gamma radiation in irradiated C57BL/6N mice. Eight-week-old male C57BL/6N mice were irradiated with 6.5 Gy. A caffeine treated group was administered with $80mg\;kg^{-1}$ body weight by intraperitoneal injection, a single treatment 1 hr before irradiation. Ascorbic acid was administered $330\;mg\;L^{-1}$ in drinking water through all the experimental period. According to time schedules, animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. And the samples were collected 2 weeks after whole- body gamma irradiation. The caffeine treated group showed lower decrement of body and organ weights than the other experimental groups. The qualitative analysis of circulating testosterone in serum was performed by means of radioimmunoassay (RIA). The normal level of circulating testosterone was maintained by the treatment of caffeine and ascorbic acid. The change of weight of body and organ and the appearance of seminiferous tubules were improved by an effect of caffeine or ascorbic acid against irradiation. Taken together, caffeine and ascorbic acid protects impairment of spermatogenesis against gamma radiation and may act as a radio-protector.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1490-1500
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• 2024

Helium-induced defect nucleation and accumulation in polycrystalline W and W0.5 wt%ZrC (W0.5ZrC) were studied in-situ using the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with 40 keV He⁺ irradiation at 800 and 1000℃ at the maximum damage level of 1 dpa. Radiation-induced dislocation loops were not observed in the current study. W0.5ZrC was found to be less susceptible to irradiation damage in terms of helium bubble formation and growth, especially at lower temperature (800 ℃) when vacancies were less mobile. The ZrC particles present in the W matrix pin the forming helium bubbles via interaction between C atom and neighbouring W atom at vacancies. This reduces the capability of helium to trap a vacancy which is required to form the bubble core and, as a consequence, delays, the bubble nucleation. At 1000 ℃, significant bubble growth occurred in both materials and all the present bubbles transitioned from spherical to faceted shape, whereas at 800 ℃, the faceted helium bubble population was dominated in W.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.02a
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• pp.311-311
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• 2013

The resistance switching memory devices have several advantages to take breakthrough for the limitation of operation speed, retention, and device scale. Especially, the metal-oxide materials such as ZnO are able to fabricate on the flexible and visible transparent plastic substrate. Also, the quantum dots (QDs) embedded in dielectric layer could be improve the ratio between the low and the high resistance becauseof their Coulomb blockade, carrier trap and induced filament path formation. In this study, we irradiated 0.2-MeV-electron beam on the ZnO/QDs/ZnO structure to control the defect and oxygen vacancy of ZnO layer. The metal-oxide QDs embedded in ZnO layer on Pt/glass substrate were fabricated for a memory device and evaluated electrical properties after 0.2-MeV-electron beam irradiations. To formation bottom electrode, the Pt layer (200 nm) was deposited on the glass substrate by direct current sputter. The ZnO layer (100 nm) was deposited by ultra-high vacuum radio frequency sputter at base pressure $1{\times}10^{-10}$ Torr. And then, the metal-oxide QDs on the ZnO layer were created by thermal annealing. Finally, the ZnO layer (100 nm) also was deposited by ultra-high vacuum sputter. Before the formation top electrode, 0.2 MeV liner accelerated electron beams with flux of $1{\times}10^{13}$ and $10^{14}$ electrons/$cm^2$ were irradiated. We will discuss the electrical properties and the physical relationships among the irradiation condition, the dislocation density and mechanism of resistive switching in the hybrid memory device.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.37-47
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• 1997

Purpose : To investigate ultrastructural changes of the mouse lung induced by whole lung gamma irradiation and to evaluate the effect of prophylactic administration of steroid against acute lung injury. Materials and Methods :. One hundred and twenty ICR mice were used and whole lung was irradiated with telecobalt machine. Whole lung doses were 8 and 12Gy, and 10mg of methyl prednisolone was administrated intraperitoneally for two and four weeks. At the end of the observation period, mice were sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The lungs were removed and fixed inflated. Histopathological examination of acute radiation injuries were Performed by light microscopic and transmission electron microscopic examination. Results : Control group with BGy is characterized by damage to the type I Pneumocyte and the endothelial cell of the capillary. edema of alveolar wall and interstitium. and fibroblast proliferation. Control group with 120y is characterized by more severe degree of type 1 pneumocyte damage and more prominant inflammatory cell infiltration. Destructed cell debris within the alveolar space were also noted After steroid administration, 8Gy experimental group showed decreased degree of inflammatory reactions but fibroblast proliferation and basal lamina damages were unchanged. Experimental group with 12Gy showed lesser degree of inflammatory reactions similar to changes of 8Gy experimental group. Conclusion : These studies suggest that the degree of interstitial edema and inflammatory changes were related to radiation dose but Proliferation of the fibroblast and structural changes of basal lamina were not related to radialion dose. Experimental administration of steroid for 2 to 4 weeks after whole lung irradiation suggest that steroid can suppress alveolar and endothelial damages induced by whole lung irradiation but Proliferation of the fibroblast and structural changes of basal lamina were not related to administration of steroid.