Unconventional approaches to the suppression of irradiation-induced swelling of stainless steels

The vacancy void formation upon irradiation of stainless steels by high-energy particles can be suppressed by the introduction of high densities of direct and indirect point-defect sinks such as α/γ interfaces and fine intermetallic particles (γ' or α' phases in fcc or bcc steels, respectively) precipitated upon irradiation. The compositions of the radiation-resistant steels including the low-activation steels of the Kh13G7V2 type with lath austenite-martensite structure are proposed.