In a fusion power reactor, energy is created on the same principle as the sun, from the fusion of atom nuclei, the opposite process than nuclear fission, which is currently used in nuclear power plants. At the moment, only experimental facilities exist and they create low levels of energy because of a range of technical and technological problems. The international fusion project ITER is the most advanced in the field of fusion power generation and is expected to be functional by 2019. But a second phase of the project is already on the drawing board, the DEMO (DEMOnstration power plant). Scientists of the Russian institute Joint Stock Company are already working on the conceptual design and testing of materials to start building the facility around 2024.

In an energy generating fusion reactor, structural materials will be exposed to very high doses of irradiation. No facility in the near future will be able to reproduce the exact environment of a fusion power plant although this is extremely important in order to choose the right building materials. Nowadays, the closest simulation is in experimental fast reactors that are only available in Russia (BOR 60 reactor) at the Joint Stock Company “State Scientific Centre Research Institute of Atomic Reactors”, in Dimitrovgrad.

In partnership with the German institute institute “Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK)” the team of scientists tested over 300 samples of ferritic/martensitic alloys (EUROFER 97) in different conditions. It was required to study their mechanical properties during tension, low-cycle fatigue and impact toughness tests.The obtained results demonstrated the theoretical possibility to use the steels for the primary wall and the blanket of the fusion reactor. This project brings us a step closer to the dream of fusion energy.

ITER Project is the biggest fusion energy experiment at the moment