Surface Structure and Properties of Niobium Zirconium Alloy After Boron-10 Ion Implantation

The boron-10 ion implantation in layers on the core components can provide lower nuclear reactivity due to an abnormally large neutron-capture cross-section during the initial stage of the reactor operation. It is shown that after the boron-10 ion implantation at 22 keV energy with 7∙1016 ion/cm2 fluence, the surface microhardness of E110 zirconium alloy increases from 3 to 3.7 GPa. After the boron-10 ion implantation in the indicated conditions (22 keV energy and 7∙1016 ion/cm2 fluence), the corrosion rate of E110 zirconium alloy in a 1% hydrofluoric acid solution is 1.2–1.4 times lower than that of the nonimplanted alloy. The boron-10 ion implantation is accompanied by such processes as the formation of a subgrain structure in the surface layer of the alloy, the grain size of which ranges within 100–200 nm; the increase in the scalar dislocation density; and the formation of 1.8–2.3 nm nanoparticles of zirconium boride.