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

聚变电力承诺提供环境友好、本质安全、几乎无限的能源供应。聚变发电的科学可行性已经得到了证明，例如，英国原子能总署最近由喷气式托卡马克创造的破纪录的聚变发电。现在最大的挑战是使聚变能源在商业上可行。这将需要能够可靠、安全地运行数十年的反应堆。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显示出机械性能的大幅退化和关键物理性能的急剧演变。要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射环境中表现出了一些希望，因为它们内部致密的界面网络可以作为辐射损伤的有效接收器。然而，这些材料普遍表现出较差的热稳定性和降低的导热系数。一个令人振奋的前景是设计出具有增强的抗辐射能力、良好的热稳定性、合适的机械性能和高导热性能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组成的多学科团队，探测纳米级结构的显微技术以及性能和结构演变的原位监测是必不可少的。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。这个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建立。我将访问以下方面的世界领先小组：(A)较长尺度和较高应变率下材料结构的现场研究，(B)在反应堆相关条件下测试新材料的环境，(C)使用严重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服役演变的模拟。这些访问的目的是建立新的联系，就聚变反应堆材料进行知识交流，并为未来的联合项目制定想法。为了确保这项研究满足工业需求和挑战，我还将访问聚变动力领域的主要行业参与者：英联邦聚变系统公司、英国原子能机构、托卡马克能源公司和第一光聚变公司。这些访问将与出席一个关键的学术会议相结合，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.