Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) will be embarking on two new materials projects in fusion energy sciences. The support for these projects comes from the Department of Energy’s Fusion Energy Sciences (FES) and Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) programs.

The projects involve developing new materials for the plasma-facing and structural components inside fusion reactors. As components of the inner wall of the fusion reactor, these materials will be subject to ion irradiation and temperatures hotter than the sun during reactor operation.

“Due to the extreme conditions inside the fusion reactors, it’s very difficult to create plasma-facing materials that can last more than a year or two inside them,” said PNNL computational scientist Wahyu Setyawan. “But for the reactor to be economical, we need these materials to last much longer—around 10 years.”

Setyawan will lead the new FES-funded project to explore the development of longer-lasting materials that will directly face fusion plasma. He and his PNNL team will partner with researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, the University of California at San Diego, and Oregon State University to create and characterize low-activation ductile-phase toughened tungsten composites and ductile refractory multi-principal element alloys for the plasma-facing components. 

The ARPA-E project, led by Senior Nuclear Materials Advisor Stuart Maloy, will explore new structural materials. This work will be done in collaboration with Iowa State University, Ames Laboratory, Baylor University, the University of Michigan, and Citrine Informatics. 

Through this project, Maloy and his team will create nanoparticle strengthened vanadium alloys and test them for their suitability as structural materials supporting the plasma-facing components. The team will use artificial intelligence to predict which materials should possess optimal properties, then synthesize them using solid phase processing techniques. The materials will then be characterized, tested, and scaled up for practical application inside fusion reactors. 

Materials scientist Osman El Atwani, who is currently leading a 2021 ARPA-E OPEN project on fusion materials, will bring his expertise and leadership in characterizing and testing materials under extreme conditions to both projects. 

“Simultaneously working on both the plasma-facing components and the structural components gives PNNL an opportunity to collaborate with both fusion materials communities,” said El Atwani. “Having a broad scope of research can provide insights into how the different fusion materials may work together during reactor operation.”