Assessment of relative contributions from different mechanisms to radiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel steels

Experimental data on radiation embrittlement in pressure vessel steels of both Russian and American grades, obtained by the authors and also taken from the literature, have been analyzed to assess the relative contributions from the following mechanisms: radiation-induced hardening, inter- and intragranular segregation of impurities at precipitate/matrix interfaces. It is demonstrated that radiation-induced intragranular segregation of impurities frequently provides a significant contribution to radiation embrittlement of pressure vessel steels.