Phase Formation Features of Reactor Pressure Vessel Steels with Various Ni and Mn Content under Conditions of Neutron Irradiation at Increased Temperature

In this paper the phase formation and mechanical properties of VVER-type reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels with various Ni (1.57–5.95 wt.%) and Mn (0.03–0.76 wt.%) content after neutron irradiation up to fluences in the range of (53–120) × 1022 n/m2 at 400 °C were studied. The possibility of carbonitride formation under these irradiation conditions is shown. In case of sufficient Ni (>1.5 wt.%) and Mn (>0.3 wt.%) content formation of Ni-Si-Mn precipitates is observed. Their chemical composition is close to G-phase and Γ2-phase and differs from that of radiation-induced precipitates in VVER-1000 RPV steels. This indicates the prerequisites for thermally conditioned mechanism of Ni-Si-Mn precipitates formation and growth at 400 °C enhanced by irradiation. It is also shown that the optimized steel manufacturing technology coupled with an ultralow Mn content (≤0.03 wt.%) in steel with increased up to 5.26 wt.% Ni content facilitates suppressing the Ni-Si-Mn precipitates and carbonitrides formation. This, in turn, reduces the contribution of the hardening embrittlement mechanism and, correspondingly, facilitates high radiation resistance of the steels with ultralow Mn content at the increased irradiation temperature (400 °C).