Low-chromium reduced-activation ferritic steels

Steels are being developed for fusion-reactor applications that contain only elements that produce radioactive isotopes that decay to low levels in a reasonable time. These reduced-activation or fast induced-radioactivity decay ferritic steels are being developed to be analogous to the Cr-Mo steels presently in the fusion program, but with molybdenum replaced by tungsten. In this paper, steels with 2-1/4% Cr will be discussed. To determine the effect of tungsten and vanadium on these steels, heats were produced with 2% W, with 0.25% V, with 1% W and 0.25% V, and with 2% W and 0.25% V. Tempering and microstructural studies were made and tensile and impact tests were conducted. Preliminary results indicate that it should be possible to develop a low-chromium Cr-W steel without molybdenum or niobium. Such steels should have properties as good as or better than the three Cr-Mo steels presently being considered as candidates for fusion-reactor applications. 22 refs., 12 figs., 3 tabs