Helium Retention and Desorption Behaviour of Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martenstic Steel

The reduced activation ferritic/martenstic steel CLF-1 prepared by the Southwestern Institute of Physics in China was irradiated by helium ions with an energy of 5 keV at room temperature using an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion irradiation apparatus. After the irradiation, the helium retention and desorption were investigated using a technique of thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). The experiment was conducted with both the normal and welded samples. Blisters were observed after the helium ion irradiation, and the surface density of blisters in the welded samples was lower than that in the non-welded samples. Three desorption peaks were observed in both the non-welded and welded samples. These desorption peaks corresponded to those of blister ruptures and the helium release from the inner bubbles and the defects. The amount of helium retained in the welded samples was approximately the same as that in the non-welded samples, which was much less than other reduced activation materials, such as vanadium alloy and SiC/SiC composites.