Fusion materials science and technology research opportunities now and during the ITER era

• Published in: Fusion engineering and design Vol. 89; no. 7-8; pp. 1579 - 1585
• Main Authors: Zinkle, S.J., Blanchard, J.P., Callis, R.W., Kessel, C.E., Kurtz, R.J., Lee, P.J., McCarthy, K.A., Morley, N.B., Najmabadi, F., Nygren, R.E., Tynan, G.R., Whyte, D.G., Willms, R.S., Wirth, B.D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier B.V 01.10.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Breeding blankets; Cost engineering; DEMO; Exploration; Financing; Investment; MATERIALS SCIENCE; Mathematical models; Nuclear fusion; Plasma facing components; Recommendations; Reduced activation materials; Schedules; Tritium systems; Plasma facing components; Tritium systems; Breeding blankets; DEMO; Reduced activation materials
• ISSN: 0920-3796; 1873-7196
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.02.048

Several high-priority near-term potential research activities to address fusion nuclear science challenges are summarized. General recommendations include: (1) Research should be preferentially focused on the most technologically advanced options (i.e., options that have been developed at least through the single-effects concept exploration stage, technology readiness levels >3), (2) Significant near-term progress can be achieved by modifying existing facilities and/or moderate investment in new medium-scale facilities, and (3) Computational modeling for fusion nuclear sciences is generally not yet sufficiently robust to enable truly predictive results to be obtained, but large reductions in risk, cost and schedule can be achieved by careful integration of experiment and modeling.