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Fusion Materials with a Focus on Industrial Scale-Up
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Fusion Materials with a Focus on Industrial Scale-Up

A Special Issue of Journal of Nuclear Engineering (ISSN 2673-4362).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2025) | Viewed by 11024

Editors

Prof. Dr. Jan Willem Coenen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institut für Energie- und Klimaforschung—Plasmaphysik, Partner of the Trilateral Euregio Cluster (TEC), 52425 Jülich, Germany
Interests: nuclear fusion; plasma–material interaction; tungsten; refractory metal composites; fiber-reinforced tungsten; material sci-ence; sintering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Thomas P. Davis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Oxford Sigma, Oxford Centre for Innovation, New Road, Oxford OX1 1BY, UK
2. Nuclear Futures Institute, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG, UK
Interests: nuclear materials; ferritic-martensitic steels; neutron radiation damage; materials qualification

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fusion materials are critical to the development and scaling up of power from nuclear fusion. These materials must withstand extreme conditions such as high temperatures, plasma exposure, and neutron irradiation. Key challenges include ensuring the longevity and stability of these materials to enable continuous operation of future fusion power plants.

The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together recent research on the status of the industrial route toward providing materials for future fusion reactors, as well as to highlight the challenges faced in bringing the supply chain to maturity. The scope ranges from material requirements, types of fusion materials, and challenges in industrial scale-up to future prospects.

  1. Material Requirements:
  • Thermal Stability: endure high temperatures at the plasma–material interface
  • Radiation Resistance: withstand high neutron flux without significant degradation.
  • Structural Integrity: maintain mechanical strength under intense operational stresses.
  1. Types of Fusion Materials:
  • Plasma-Facing Materials (PFMs): tungsten and tungsten alloys, designed to handle direct exposure to the plasma.
  • Structural Materials: steels and special alloys that provide the reactor’s structural framework.
  • Breeder Materials: lithium-based ceramics or molten salts used in breeding blankets to produce tritium.
  1. Challenges in Industrial Scale-Up:
  • Material Production: scaling up production methods to meet the large volumes required for power plant construction.
  • Quality Control: ensuring consistent material properties across large quantities.
  • Cost Efficiency: developing cost-effective manufacturing processes to make fusion power economically viable.
  1. Current Research and Development:
  • Advanced Manufacturing Techniques: additive manufacturing and nanotechnology to enhance material properties and production efficiency.
  • Material Testing Facilities: high-flux neutron sources and plasma simulators for accelerated aging and performance testing.
  • International Collaboration: joint research initiatives such as ITER and DEMO, focusing on material innovation and testing.
  1. Future Prospects:
  • The development of new alloys and composite materials with enhanced performance.
  • The integration of AI and machine learning for predictive modeling and optimization of material properties.
  • Continued collaboration between academia, industry, and government to overcome technical and economic barriers.

In summary, the industrial scale-up of fusion materials involves addressing significant challenges in material production, quality control, and cost efficiency, with ongoing research focused on developing advanced materials and manufacturing techniques.

Prof. Dr. Jan Willem Coenen
Dr. Thomas P. Davis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Nuclear Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • plasma-facing materials
  • structural materials
  • breeder materials
  • quality control
  • upscaling
  • production of fusion materials
  • advanced manufacturing techniques
  • radiation resistance
  • structural integrity

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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21 pages, 4997 KB  
Article
Scale-Up of General Atomics’ Nuclear Grade Silicon Carbide Composite and Related Technologies
by George M. Jacobsen, Sean Gonderman, Rolf Haefelfinger, Lucas Borowski, Ivan Ivanov, William McMahon, Jiping Zhang, Osman Trieu, Christian P. Deck, Hesham Khalifa, Tyler Abrams, Zachary Bergstrom and Christina A. Back
J. Nucl. Eng. 2026, 7(1), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/jne7010022 - 17 Mar 2026
Viewed by 2442
Abstract
Silicon carbide (SiC) and SiC fiber-reinforced SiC matrix composites (SiC/SiC) are receiving renewed attention for use in next-generation fusion reactors due to their ability to withstand extreme conditions, including high temperatures, neutron irradiation, and plasma interactions. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has demonstrated [...] Read more.
Silicon carbide (SiC) and SiC fiber-reinforced SiC matrix composites (SiC/SiC) are receiving renewed attention for use in next-generation fusion reactors due to their ability to withstand extreme conditions, including high temperatures, neutron irradiation, and plasma interactions. General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has demonstrated significant progress in scaling up the fabrication of SiC/SiC, achieving high mechanical uniformity and meeting dimensional requirements in components up to 12 feet in length. Key developments are discussed including scale-up of the chemical vapor infiltration (CVI) process from lab-scale to full sized parts, high-dose (100 dpa) irradiation testing, nuclear-grade ceramic joining technologies, and production-focused quality control with the collective aim to establish SiC/SiC as a reliable solution for structural and functional components in fusion systems. Beyond manufacturing, the paper addresses supply chain barriers, particularly the limited availability and high cost of nuclear-grade SiC fiber. GA-EMS is developing a novel SiC fiber production method based on a thermochemical cure step that is anticipated to reduce costs compared to traditional approaches. Additionally, advancements in engineered SiC materials, such as SiC foams and tungsten-graded SiC composites, are discussed as promising solutions for specific fusion reactor components. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fusion Materials with a Focus on Industrial Scale-Up)
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25 pages, 22749 KB  
Article
Engineering the Next Generation of Industrially Scalable Fusion-Grade Steels
by David Bowden, Benjamin Evans, Jack Haley, Jim Johnson, Alexander Carruthers, Stephen Jones, Dane Hardwicke, Talal Abdullah, Shahin Mehraban, Nicholas Lavery, Paul Sukpe, Richard Birley, Abdollah Bahador, Alan Scholes and Peter Barnard
J. Nucl. Eng. 2026, 7(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/jne7010001 - 19 Dec 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3102
Abstract
Future fusion power plants require structural materials that can withstand extreme operating conditions, including high coolant outlet temperatures, mechanical loading, and radiation damage. Reduced-activation ferritic martensitic (RAFM) steels are a primary candidate as a structural material for such applications. This study demonstrates the [...] Read more.
Future fusion power plants require structural materials that can withstand extreme operating conditions, including high coolant outlet temperatures, mechanical loading, and radiation damage. Reduced-activation ferritic martensitic (RAFM) steels are a primary candidate as a structural material for such applications. This study demonstrates the successful production of a 5.5-tonne RAFM billet via electric arc furnace (EAF) technology, enabling scalable, cost-effective manufacturing. The resulting UK-RAFM alloy offers superior tensile strength and creep lifetime performance compared to Eurofer97. This is attributed to alterations in the initial forging process during manufacture. Modified thermomechanical treatments (TMTs) were subsequently applied to the UK-RAFM, which are shown to enhance the tensile strength further, particularly at 650 °C. Building on this, an Advanced RAFM (ARAFM) steel was designed to exploit the benefits of optimised chemistry to encourage metal carbonitride (MX) precipitate evolution alongside bespoke TMTs. Challenges around ensuring suitable processing windows in these steels, to avoid the over-coarsening of MX precipitates or the formation of deleterious delta-ferrite, are discussed. A subsequent 5.5-tonne ARAFM billet has since been produced using EAF facilities, with performance to be reported separately. This work highlights the synergy between alloy design, process optimisation, and industrial scalability, paving the way for a new generation of low-cost, high-volume, fusion-grade steels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fusion Materials with a Focus on Industrial Scale-Up)
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11 pages, 1706 KB  
Article
Optimization of the LIBS Technique in Air, He, and Ar at Atmospheric Pressure for Hydrogen Isotope Detection on Tungsten Coatings
by Salvatore Almaviva, Lidia Baiamonte and Marco Pistilli
J. Nucl. Eng. 2025, 6(3), 22; https://doi.org/10.3390/jne6030022 - 1 Jul 2025
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2036
Abstract
In current and future fusion devices, detecting hydrogen isotopes, particularly tritium and deuterium, implanted or redeposited on the surface of Plasma-Facing Components (PFCs) will be increasingly important to ensure safe machine operations. The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technique has proven capable of performing [...] Read more.
In current and future fusion devices, detecting hydrogen isotopes, particularly tritium and deuterium, implanted or redeposited on the surface of Plasma-Facing Components (PFCs) will be increasingly important to ensure safe machine operations. The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technique has proven capable of performing this task directly in situ, without handling or removing PFCs, thus limiting analysis times and increasing the machine’s duty cycle. To increase sensitivity and the ability to discriminate between isotopes, LIBS analysis can be performed under different background gases at atmospheric pressure, such as air, He, and Ar. In this work, we present the results obtained on tungsten coatings enriched with deuterium and/or hydrogen as a deuterium–tritium nuclear fuel simulant, measured with the LIBS technique in air, He, and Ar at atmospheric pressure, and discuss the pros and cons of their use. The results obtained demonstrate that both He and Ar can improve the LIBS signal resolution of the hydrogen isotopes compared to air. However, using Ar has the additional advantage that the same procedure can also be used to detect He implanted in PFCs as a product of fusion reactions without any interference. Finally, the LIBS signal in an Ar atmosphere increases in terms of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), enabling the use of less energetic laser pulses to improve performance in depth profiling analyses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fusion Materials with a Focus on Industrial Scale-Up)
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8 pages, 4028 KB  
Brief Report
Progress in Industrialization of Tungsten Fiber-Reinforced Tungsten Composites
by Yiran Mao, Ute Wilkinson, Jan Willem Coenen, Daniel Wilkinson, Johann Riesch and Christian Linsmeier
J. Nucl. Eng. 2026, 7(2), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/jne7020024 - 25 Mar 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1298
Abstract
Plasma-facing materials (PFMs) for future fusion reactors require advanced mechanical and thermal properties to withstand the extreme challenges of high heat flux, plasma exposure, and neutron irradiation. Tungsten is one of the most suitable materials for use as a PFM in the divertor [...] Read more.
Plasma-facing materials (PFMs) for future fusion reactors require advanced mechanical and thermal properties to withstand the extreme challenges of high heat flux, plasma exposure, and neutron irradiation. Tungsten is one of the most suitable materials for use as a PFM in the divertor region. However, considering the high thermal loading/thermal stress combining plasma exposure and neutron irradiation/embrittlement, one of the major concerns for tungsten in PFMs is its intrinsic brittleness. To avoid cracking and components failure, tungsten toughening has been widely investigated, including the development of tungsten fiber-reinforced tungsten composites (Wf/W) using an extrinsic toughening mechanism, which could provide damage resilience against neutron embrittlement. Recently, a type of aligned long-fiber Wf/W (L-Wf/W) based on a powder metallurgical fabrication process was developed, demonstrating advanced fracture toughness while retaining other application-relevant properties. For L-Wf/W, the relatively easy production process suggests the feasibility and basis of industrialization. This work reports on the initial progress in industrializing L-Wf/W, with a focus on adapting the lab sintering process to a sintering process with industrial partner (Dr. Fritsch Sondermaschinen GmbH) and optimizing the process parameters. To improve the sinterability of tungsten and achieve higher density, various tungsten powders were explored, including commercial W powders, bimodal mixtures of different particle sizes, and granulated W powders. At the dedicated yttria interface, the thickness of yttria coating on the fibers was also optimized to ensure effective separation between the fibers and the matrix. Series of samples were produced with different dimensions up to 100 mm × 100 mm × 4 mm. After optimization, samples with 93% density and desired pseudo-ductility were prepared. Similarly to production in the lab, a major challenge in this work involved balancing the densification of the tungsten matrix with controlling fiber recrystallization and mitigating damage to the yttria interface. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fusion Materials with a Focus on Industrial Scale-Up)
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