An atom probe tomography study of the chemistry of radiation-induced dislocation loops in Zircaloy-2 exposed to boiling water reactor operation

This study is complementary to previous atom probe tomography (APT) studies of irradiation effects in the zirconium alloy Zircaloy-2. Using APT in voltage pulse mode, a difference in morphology was observed between clusters of Fe and Ni and clusters of Fe and Cr in Zircaloy-2 exposed to a high fast neutron fluence in a commercial boiling water reactor. The Fe–Ni clusters were disc-shaped with a diameter of 5–15 nm, whereas the Fe–Cr clusters were spheroidal with a diameter of approximately 5 nm. Both types of clusters appeared to be located at irradiation-induced <a>-type dislocation loops aligned in layers normal to the <c>-direction. The concentration of Fe was higher in the Fe–Cr clusters than in the Fe–Ni clusters. The dilute Fe–Ni clusters, which seem to be segregation of Fe and Ni inside the loops, had formed on all three families of first-order prismatic planes with some deviation from perfect <c>-axis alignment. The Fe–Cr clusters might be very small precipitates with a nucleation associated with the loops.