Properties of zirconium alloys and their applications in light water reactors (LWRs) - Materials' Ageing and Degradation in Light Water Reactors - page 103

2.4

Nb (%)

2.2

α Zr + β -Nb

2.0

L - Zr(Nb,Fe) 2
β -Nb - (Zr-90%Nb)
T - (Zr,Nb) 2 Fe

1.8

α -Zr + L

α -Zr + β -Nb + L

1.6

1.4

9

1.2

8

1.0

1

3 7

4

0.8

α -Zr + L + T

2

5

6

0.6

0.4

0.2

α -Zr +

Zr 3 Fe

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 Fe (%)

Zr

￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿ ￿

4.16 Zr-Nb-Fe ternary alloy phase diagram, zirconium corner at
580 ° C (853K), non-equilibrium conditions. (Source: Reprinted, with
permission, from Shishov et al . (2005), copyright ASTM International,
100 Barr Harbor Drive, West Conshohocken, PA 19428.)

to the matrix, and Nb and Sn concentrating in the outer shell of the SPP. The
core remains a T-phase. Details can be obtained in the following references:
Shishov et al . (2002, 2007) and Shishov (2011) and Doriot et al . ( 2004 ).

4.3.3 Effects of post-irradiation annealing

Irradiation temperature does have an effect on microstructure - for instance
higher irradiation temperature results in larger <a> loops, <c> loops do not