Status of R&D activities on materials for fusion power reactors

Abstract

Current R&D activities on materials for fusion power reactors are mainly focused on plasma facing, structural and tritium breeding materials for plasma facing (first wall, divertor) and breeding blanket components. Most of these activities are being performed in Europe, Japan, the People's Republic of China, Russia and the USA. They relate to the development of new high temperature, radiation resistant materials, the development of coatings that will act as erosion, corrosion, permeation and/or electrical/MHD barriers, characterization of candidate materials in terms of mechanical and physical properties, assessment of irradiation effects, compatibility experiments, development of reliable joints, and development and/or validation of design rules. Priorities defined worldwide in the field of materials for fusion power reactors are summarized, as well as the main achievements obtained during the last few years and the near-term perspectives in the different investigation areas.

Materials Research and Development Opportunities in Reactors Fusion

“…The energy from 14.1 MeV neutrons has to be utilized for T production and electricity generation. The subassemblies and their functional requirements are spelt out in Table 1 (Baluc et al, 2007).…”

“…As a result, the combination of gaseous transmutant products and radiation damage has to be monitored closely in the form of He/dpa ratio. An overview of the defect production in steels for different irradiation facilities has been reported by Baluc et al (2007) and listed in Table 4.…”

Microstructural characterization of the ODS Eurofer 97 EU-batch

“…Reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels as Eurofer 97 have been developed for fusion reactor applications from the conventional 9Cr-1Mo steel modified by replacing high neutron activation elements, such as Mo and Nb, by low neutron activation equivalents, such as W, V and Ta [1,2]. The materials design has been aimed at enhancing specific properties, namely tensile strength at moderate temperatures as well as swelling and creep resistances [2,3].…”

“…The materials design has been aimed at enhancing specific properties, namely tensile strength at moderate temperatures as well as swelling and creep resistances [2,3].…”

Microstructure characterization of ODS-RAFM steels

“…In order to comply with this requisite, reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) Eurofer 97 steel has been developed from the conventional 9Cr-1Mo composition [1]. The substitution of high activation elements (Mo and Nb) by low activation chemically equivalent elements (W, V and Ta) resulted in a material that additionally evidences high swelling and creep resistances, as well as suitable tensile strength up to a temperature of 550 ºC [2][3][4]. The subsequently developed oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) Eurofer 97 represents an increase in operation temperature to 650 ºC [5].…”