ABSTRACT
An important difference between inertial and magnetic reactors is the level of neutron damage induced in the structural materials of the first wall, given that some protection schemes can be used, which will provide much lower damage than that of magnetic fusion. The mechanisms of irradiation damage in the structural materials of the future inertial confinement fusion (ICF) reactors change significantly depending on the nature of the incident particles: charged particles, X-rays, or neutrons. The aim of this section is to describe the basic primary phenomena of neutron damage from a general physics perspective, common to the general nuclear technology, but highlighting those features of ICF fusion technology which depend on the particular neutron spectra of each reactor concept. Modeling and estimation can be found in Sanz. The change in the properties of the structural materials by neutron irradiation has been traditionally attributed to the atomic displacement damage, and to some extent, it depends on the production of impurities through nuclear reactions.
