Microstructural and mechanical characterization of new low-activation Cr-Mn austenitic steels

On the basis of alloy design considerations, and aiming at the disposal by shallow land burial of the waste of fusion tokamak reactors (to be achieved by limiting the long-lived radioactivity of the first wall through the optimization of the composition of the conventional Cr-Ni austenitic steels), the authors designed a series of new low-activation austenitic steels. The paper presents the results of the last stage of the development, concerning the microstructure and the tensile properties of these steels, which have been subject of extensive experimental characterization work. (orig.)