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Published: 1986

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Fast-neutron irradiation of alloys for fusion-reactor applications produces bulk changes in density and composition via porosity swelling and transmutation which affect the dc volume electrical and thermal conductivities (sigma=1[rho]sub e/ and K). For the Cu materials of our study, neutron fluences of 2 x 1026n/m2 (E> 0.1 MeV) produced Ni and Zn weight increases of about 0.05 and 0.09%, respectively, and porosity swelling of 0 to 7%; rho/sub e/ accordingly increased as much as 18%. We also determined the individual rho/sub e/ changes due to both swelling and transmutation via use of an appropriate mixing rule and of Matthiessen's law to unmask any residual effects present, e.g., phase or microstructural changes. For four materials - two pure copper and two alumina-dispersion-strengthened (ADS) alloys - subtraction of these deltarho/sub e/'s from the irradiated values yielded or nearly yielded the respective control values. In contrast, the two precipitation-strengthened (PS) alloys studied, MZC and AMZIRC, had relatively large negative residues, apparently indicating effective radiation-induced conductivities.