Fusion blanket materials development and recent R and D activities

Development of structural materials plays an important role in the feasibility of fusion power plant. The candidate structural materials for future fusion reactors are Reduced Activation Ferritic Martensitic (RAFM) steel, nano structured ODS Steel, vanadium alloys and SiC/SiC_f composite etc. RAFM steel is presently considered as the structural material for Lead Lithium Ceramic Breeder (LLCB) Test Blanket Module (TBM) because of its high void swelling resistance and improved thermal properties compared to austenitic steel. Development of RAFM steel in India is being carried out in full swing in collaboration with various research laboratories and steel industries. This paper presents an overview of the Indian activities on fusion blanket materials and describes in brief the efforts made to develop IN-RAFM steel as structural material for the LLCB TBM. In future, due to enhanced properties of vanadium base alloy and nano structured materials like ODS RAFMS, RAFM steel may be replaced by these materials for its application in DEMO relevant fusion reactor. Future R and D activities will be specifically towards the development of these structural materials for fusion reactor