Evaluation of radiation resistance of polymers for nuclear power plant applications

The increasing number of nuclear power plants under construction or being planned poses a serious materials specification problem for the architect and engineer. In addition to the electrical properties of materials, the engineer must now consider the effects of radiation upon the physical integrity and flammability characteristics of a material. Moreover, there are no universally accepted test procedures or specifications which define the suitability of a material for use in nuclear power plants. While this paper does not attempt to impose a set of test procedures or specifications for nuclear power plant applications, it does attempt to shed some meaningful light on test procedures and call attention to some aspects of specifications which may have been previously overlooked. This report summarizes changes induced in a number of plastics and elastomers by gamma radiation up to a total dose of 200 megarads. The properties which were monitored are elongation, tensile break strength, hardness, and flammability characteristics.