The definition of damage functions from irradiation test data

This report describes a method of determining irradiation effectiveness of different neutron spectra in causing radiation effects to fuel cladding and reactor structural materials. It involves the definition of a semi-empirical damage function or cross section using measured data from specimens irradiated in thermal and fast test reactor spectra. The damage function is applied to design problems involving irradiation effects to reactor structural and fuel cladding materials to predict the fluence which would produce a specific change in material properties.