Isothermal annealing of radiation defects in zirkonium alloys with rare-earth metals

The recovery processes at the isothermal annealing of point defects in zirconium low-doped alloys Zr-Sc, Zr-Dy, Zr-Y, Zr-Gd, Zr-La have been investigated after the low-temperature electron irradiation by 2 MeV. It has been found that the migration energy of interstitial atoms in zirconium is equal to 0.34 eV as well as the migration energy of vacancies equals 0.74 eV. It is shown that two arrangement configurations of interstitial atoms with different binding energies may exist around yttrium and gadolinium impurity atoms in the zirconium matrix.