Fast Neutron Damaging in Nuclear Reactors. I. Radiation Damage Monitoring with the Electrical Conductivity of Graphite

A method for using a saturating property to formulate a linear dosage scale is developed. The method is applied to the determination of the radiation damage rate for graphite in a nuclear reactor using the per cent decrease in electrical conductivity as the property. The damage rates in a number of irradiation facilities of the CP-3, CP-3′, and X-10 reactors are given. It is conclusively shown that the thermal neutron flux cannot be used to indicate the damage rate, for the one can be varied by more than an order of magnitude with respect to the other.