Temperature effect on characteristics of void population formed in the austenitic steel under neutron irradiation up to high damage dose

Radiation-induced porosity in fuel pin cladding of the BN-600 reactor fabricated of cold-worked austenitic steel 16Cr–15Ni–2Mo–2Mn irradiated to different damage dose 20–90 dpa at 410–600 °C has been examined by transmission electron microscopy. Formation and growth of various types of voids were shown to occur according to their both duration and mechanism of nucleation. Dependencies of average diameters and concentration of all void types on neutron irradiation damage dose were plotted for various temperature ranges. The change of void population with increasing dose at various temperature ranges was analyzed based on point defect kinetic. The contribution of different types of voids to swelling was examined.