Vanadium-base alloys for fusion reactor applications - a review

Vanadium-base alloys offer potentially significant advantages over other candidate alloys as structural material for fusion reactor first wall/blanket applications. Although the data base is more limited than that for the other leading candidate structural materials, viz, austenitic and ferritic steels, vanadium-base alloys exhibit properties that make them particularly attractive for the fusion reactor environment. This paper presents a review of the structural material requirements, a summary of the materials data base for selected vanadium-base alloys with emphasis on the V-15Cr-5Ti alloy, and a comparison of projected performance characteristics compared to other candidate alloys. Also, critical research and development (R and D) needs are defined. (orig./RK)