Irradiation effects in ceramic breeder materials

For understanding of the irradiation effects in solid breeder materials, extensive studies have been performed with lithium-containing ceramics such as Li2O, LiAlO2, Li4SiO4 and Li2ZrO3. In parallel with the studies of ordinary irradiation performance testing, a number of the studies have been performed focussed on the fundamental aspects of irradiation-induced defects and their effects in lithium ceramics. In the present paper, the fundamental studies are reviewed and discussed to improve our knowledge on the irradiation effects in lithium ceramics, Their production behaviors, reaction kinetics, and effects on the tritium release performance and microstructural changes of lithium ceramics are described. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.