Radiation Damage of Materials for Fast Breeder and Fusion Reactors

Abstract

Radiation damage has recently become one of the key problems in nuclear reactor development for the first time in its history started over 30 years ago. The reasons why this problem has become so important will be explained for two crucially important materials, i. e. core structural materials of a fast breeder reactor and first wall materials of a fusion reactor.
Advances achieved for about a decade in calculating number of displacements will be reviewed with two topics, cascade simulation calculations and damage energy deposition in multi-component materials, explained in some length.
Essential problems arise from heavy exposure of fast neutrons to such an extent that each atom composing crystalline materials suffers displacement from its normal lattice site many times during service life. Change in microstructure by heavy irradiation causes changes in such important bulk properties as ductility, swelling and creep.
Considerable parts of the studies of heavy irradiation effects have so far been performed using accelerators. The correlation between accelerator and neutron irradiation effects is discussed in a final section, in which suggestions are made to establish simulation correlations.