Irradiated austenitic stainless steels, because of their low stacking fault energy and high shear modulus, should exhibit a high ratio of stacking fault tetrahedra relative to the overall population of radiation induced nanometric defects. Experimental observations of stacking fault tetrahedra by transmission electron microscopy in commercial-purity stainless steels are however scarce, while they abundantly occur in high-purity or model austenitic alloys irradiated at both low and high temperatures, but not at around 673 K. In commercial alloys, the little evidence of stacking fault tetrahedra does not follow such a trend. These contradictions are reviewed and discussed. Reviewing the three possible formation mechanisms identified in the literature, namely the Silcox and Hirsch Frank loop dissociation, the void collapse and the stacking fault tetrahedra growth, it seems that the later dominates under irradiation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.