Status and key issues of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic steels as the structural material for a DEMO blanket

The status and key issues of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels R&D are reviewed as the primary candidate structural material for fusion energy demonstration reactor blankets. This includes manufacturing technology, the as-fabricated and irradiates material database and joining technologies. The review indicated that the manufacturing technology, joining technology and database accumulation including irradiation data are ready for initial design activity, and also identifies various issues that remain to be solved for engineering design activity and qualification of the material for international fusion material irradiation facility (IFMIF) irradiation experiments that will validate the data base.