IRRADIATION DAMAGE IN VANADIUM ALLOYS USING HEAVY-ION AND PROTON ACCELERATORS

The paper describes the preliminary results of heavy ion and proton irradiation damage in vanadium and vanadium-titanium alloys of potential interest as fusion reactor first wall materials. The heavy ion irradiation experiments were aimed primarily at studying displacement cascade collapse in single crystal vanadium and are part of a wider study of ion energy and mass effects. The proton irradiation experiments were aimed at studying the effects of recoil energy on damage structure evolution, and are therefore relevant to the changes in neutron energy spectra between fission and fusion reactions. Results are presented from a quantitative and defect geometry analysis of damage structures using TEM.