Abstract
Structural materials represent the key for containment of nuclear fuel and fission products as well
as reliable and thermodynamically efficient production of electrical energy from nuclear reactors.
Similarly, high-performance structural materials will be critical for the future success of
proposed fusion energy reactors, which will subject the structures to unprecedented fluxes of
high-energy neutrons along with intense thermomechanical stresses. Advanced materials can
enable improved reactor performance via increased safety margins and design flexibility, in
particular by providing increased strength, thermal creep resistance and superior corrosion and
neutron radiation damage resistance. In many cases, a key strategy for designing highperformance
radiation-resistant materials is based on the introduction of a high, uniform density
of nanoscale particles that simultaneously provide good high temperature strength and neutron
radiation damage resistance.
