The development of austenitic stainless steels for fast induced-radioactivity decay

During the operation of a fusion reactor, the structural material of the first-wall and blanket structure will become highly radioactive from activation by the fusion neutrons. Disposal of this material after the service lifetime will be a difficult radioactive waste-management problem. One way to minimize the disposal problem is to use structural materials in which radioactive isotopes induced by irradiation rapidly decay to levels that allow simplified disposal techniques. We are assessing the feasibility of developing such austenitic stainless steels. 4 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs