Building new collaborations to develop highly radiation resistant materials for fusion power

聚变发电有望提供环保、本质安全且几乎无限的能源供应。聚变发电的科学可行性已经得到证明，例如英国原子能机构 JET 托卡马克最近破纪录的聚变发电。现在最大的挑战是使聚变能商业化。这将需要反应堆能够可靠、安全地运行数十年。目前用于聚变反应堆装甲和结构装甲部件的材料预计将在反应堆运行的几天到几个月内表现出机械性能的大幅退化和关键物理性能的急剧演变。为了使聚变发电成为现实，迫切需要性能稳定、耐辐射、耐高温的新型材料。纳米结构材料在强辐照环境中表现出了一些前景，因为它们内部的密集界面网络可以充当辐照损伤的有效接收器。然而，这些材料通常表现出较差的热稳定性和降低的导热性。一个令人兴奋的前景是设计兼具增强的抗辐射性、良好的热稳定性、合适的机械性能和高导热性的新型纳米结构材料。为了应对这一挑战，一个由纳米结构材料设计和加工专家、用于探测纳米级结构的显微技术以及对性能和结构演化进行原位监测的多学科团队组成的专家团队至关重要。这必须得到从纳米到宏观尺度的材料模拟专家的计算输入的进一步支持。该项目的目标是组建一个团队来应对这一挑战。它将围绕我的团队在聚变反应堆材料的结构和性能表征方面的专业知识而构建。我将访问以下领域的世界领先团队：(a)较长长度尺度和较高应变率下的材料结构原位研究，(b)在反应堆相关条件下测试新材料的环境，(c)使用剧烈塑性变形方法制造纳米结构材料，以及(d)聚变反应堆材料及其在役演化的模拟。这些访问的目的是建立新的联系，交流聚变反应堆材料的知识，并为未来的联合项目开发想法。为了确保这项研究满足工业需求和挑战，我还将拜访聚变发电领域的主要工业参与者：Commonwealth Fusion Systems、UKAEA、Tokamak Energy 和 First Light Fusion。这些访问将与参加一次重要的学术会议相结合，以传播我的小组探索当前聚变反应堆材料降解的工作。

Fusion power promises an environmentally friendly, intrinsically safe and almost limitless energy supply. The scientific feasibility of fusion power generation has been demonstrated, for example by recent record-breaking fusion power generation by the JET tokamak at UKAEA. The big challenge now is to make fusion energy commercially viable. This will require reactors that can operate reliably and safely for tens of years. Current materials for fusion reactor armour and structural armour components are anticipated to show substantial degradation of mechanical properties and dramatic evolution of key physical properties within a few days to months of reactor operation. To make fusion power a reality, new, highly radiation and temperature resistant materials with stable properties are urgently needed. Nano-structured materials have shown some promise for intense irradiation environments, as the dense network of interfaces within them can act as an efficient sink for irradiation damage. However, these materials generally show poor thermal stability and reduced thermal conductivity. An exciting prospect is to design new nano-structured materials that combine enhanced radiation resistance, good thermal stability, suitable mechanical properties and high thermal conductivity.To tackle this challenge a multi-disciplinary team bringing together experts in nano-structured material design and processing, microscopy techniques for probing nano-scale structure and insitu monitoring of property and structure evolution is essential. This must be further underpinned by computational input from experts in material simulations from the nano- to the macro-scale. The goal of this project is to assemble a team to tackle this challenge. It will be built around my group's expertise in the characterisation of structure and properties of fusion reactor materials. I will visit world-leading groups in (a) the insitu study of material structure at longer length-scales and at higher strain rates, (b) environments for testing new materials under reactor-relevant conditions, (c) the manufacture of nano-structured materials using severe plastic deformation approaches, and (d) the simulation of fusion reactor materials and their in-service evolution. The goal of these visits is to form new connections, knowledge exchange on fusion reactor materials and to develop ideas for joint future projects. To ensure this research meets industrial needs and challenges, I will also visit key industrial players in fusion power: Commonwealth Fusion Systems, UKAEA, Tokamak Energy, and First Light Fusion. These visits will be combined with attendance of a key academic conference to disseminate my group's work exploring the degradation of current fusion reactor materials.