Experimental Development at a Pilot Plant Scale of a Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic RAFM Steel, Asturfer®

Ferritic/Martensitic steels, with chromium contents ranging between 9 and 12%, were introduced into fusion material programs due to their better creep resistance and excellent thermal and nuclear properties compared to austenitic stainless steels. Reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels are considered promising candidates for the test blanket modules of the future International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), being EUROFER steel is the EU reference material. It is a 9 % Cr RAFM steel which exhibits a tempered martensitic microstructure and presently allows operation up to 550 ⁰C. This paper shows the work carried out to develop at a pilot plant scale a Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic (RAFM) steel, Asturfer ®, with chemical composition and mechanical properties very close to EUROFER steel.