Fracture behavior and deformation mechanisms under fast neutron irradiation

We have established the out-of-pile and in-pile deformation mechanism maps of a stainless steel irradiated in a fast reactor. The knowledge of the dominating deformation mechanism either in post irradiation creep experiments or during the in-pile steady state operating conditions allows to rationalize the apparent discrepancy between the very low out-of-pile ductility and the rather high plastic diametral strains which are obtained in the fast reactor environment without fracture