Materials for Fusion Energy
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MRS BULLETIN/JULY 1989
be due to the intense bombardment of materials by the energetic neutron and particle radiation from the reacting plasma. In 1975, some design studies suggested reactor first-wall lifetimes as short as two years based on then-known data.7 That technical situation and the strong endorsement and associated challenge of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), and the Department of Energy (DOE) led to a strong and well-structured materials research and development program in support of fusion energy development." This issue of the MRS BULLETIN will examine these materials issues by: focusing on the consequences of the primary threat of intense, extensive, high-energy neutron irradiation on materials for fusion reactor systems; illustrating some of the accomplishments of the continuing fusion materials research program initiated in the 1970s; and looking at new directions. The articles in this issue will: • Examine the fundamental scientific phenomena that occur in fusion neutron irradiation damage; • Explain the innovative experimental methods developed to deal with the sharp constraints of available test environments in order to approximate the effects of the fusion reactor environment; • Describe the application of the full range of modern metallurgical investigation in conjunction with these special test methods in the evolution of a highperformance, radiation-resistant alloy steel; • Outline the opportunity and the challenge to the materials research community to advance the attractiveness of fusion with the development of new materials that can substantially reduce the burden of longterm radioactive waste management; and • Illustrate the breadth of the materials issues by looking at the materials requirements of a current major international experimental fusion reactor design project.
Despite their scope, these articles do not present a comprehensive review of fusion materials R&D. For a comprehensive treatment of the field, the reader can go to the most recent proceedings of the Third International Conference on Fusion Reactor Materials'1 (and its predecessor, the American Nuclear Society's domestic conference series) and the Seventh International Conference of Plasma Surface Interaction in Controlled Fusion Devices.'" The American Nuclear Society conference series on Fusion Reactor Technology" should also be considered. The Radiation Damage Threat and Materials Research for Fusion The central axiom of materials science and engineering is that virtually all fundamental and engineering properties of solid crystalline materials depend on details of the microsrructure and microchemistry of those materials—metallic, ceramic, organic, and graphitic. Energetic neutron irradiation profoundly changes microstructure and microchemistry relative to normal thermal processes, sharply affecting important properties of solids. In fusion reactor systems, a wide array of materials will be subject to high energy, high flux and high exposure neutron irrad
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