Transmutation behaviour of Eurofer under irradiation in the IFMIF test facility and fusion power reactors

Abstract The transmutation behaviour of the low activation steel Eurofer was analysed for irradiation simulations in the high flux test module (HFTM) of the International Fusion Material Irradiation Facility (IFMIF) neutron source and the first wall of a typical fusion power reactor (FPR) employing helium cooled lithium lead (HCLL) and pebble bed (HCPB) blankets. The transmutation calculations were conducted with the analytical and laplacian adaptive radioactivity analysis (ALARA) code and IEAF-2001 data for the IFMIF and the EASY-2003 system for the fusion power reactor (FPR) irradiations. The analyses showed that the transmutation of the main constituents of Eurofer, including iron and chromium, is not significant. Minor constituents such as Ti, V and Mn increase by 5–15% per irradiation year in the FPR and by 10–35% in the IFMIF HFTM. Other minor constituents such as B, Ta, and W show a different transmutation behaviour resulting in different elemental compositions of the Eurofer steel after high fluence irradiations in IFMIF and fusion power reactors.