Selection, characterization and testing of ceramic breeder materials

Some important criteria for ceramic breeder material lead to the selection of the double oxides of lithium as e.g. the aluminates and the silicates. The paper describes a characterization and testing program, mainly for lithium silicates, including thermophysical, mechanical and chemical properties. The realistic irradiation conditions in fusion reactor blankets are compared to the possibilities in thermal and fast fission reactors. The considerations are backed up by experimental results of laboratory and inpile tests. (orig.)