Good neutron absorber properties of hafnium diboride allow it to be a valuable candidate for control-rod application in pressurized water reactors. In order to understand irradiation effects in this ceramic, neutron irradiated samples are observed by SEM and TEM and thermal diffusivity measurements are carried out by the Flash-Laser method. A decrease of the diffusivity is observed and is partially related to the appearance of porosity at grain boundaries. This porosity does not seem to be helium bubbles, neither lithium precipitates. Defect structure is observed by TEM.
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