The impact of materials selection on long-term activation in fusion power plants

Neutron-induced transmutation of materials in a D–T fusion power plant will give rise to the potential for long-term activation. To ensure that the attractive safety and environmental characteristics of fusion power are not degraded, careful design choices are necessary. An aim of optimising power plant design must be to minimise both the level of activation and the total volume of active material that might ultimately be categorised as waste requiring disposal. Materials selection is central to this optimisation. In this paper we assess the influence of materials choices for a power plant on the waste volume and the potential to clear (i.e. remove from regulatory control) and recycle material. Although the use of low activation materials in regions of high neutron flux is an important part of the strategy to minimise the level of activation, different choices may result from a strategy aimed at minimising the volume of active waste.