Radiation effects on microstructures and properties of irradiated materials

Development of structural materials to withstand aggressive radiation environments has been carried out on an international scale over the past four decades. Major radiation-induced changes in properties include swelling, creep and embrittlement. The basic work, stimulated by technology, to understand and control these phenomena, has been heavily oriented toward the evolution of microstructures and their effects on properties. Microstructural research has coupled analyses by high resolution techniques with theoretical modeling to describe and predict microscopic features and the resulting macroscopic properties. A short summary is presented of key physical considerations that drive these changes during irradiation. Such processes begin with displacement cascades, and lead to property changes through the diffusion and clustering of defects