Single crystals of R1Ba2Cu3O7–8, (R=Y, Eu and Gd), have been irradiated with 0.4–1.0 MeV electrons in directions near the c-axis. An incident threshold electron energy for producing flux pinning defects has been found. In-situ TME studies found no visible defects induced by electron irradiation. This means that point defects or small clusters ( ≤ 20 Å) are responsible for the extra pinning. A consistent interpretation of the data suggests that the most likely pinning defect is the displacement of a Cu atom from the CuO2 planes.