Recent results on beryllium and beryllides in Japan

Recently, several research and development (R&D) programs of beryllium and its alloys for fusion reactor application have been conducted in Japan and the community of beryllium research has grown. In the R&D area of beryllium technology for a solid breeding blanket, a major subject is applications of beryllides, for which lifetime evaluation as neutron multiplier, impurity effect on irradiation behavior and recycling of irradiated materials are under investigation. As for neutron multiplier materials, recent R&D has focused on Be–Ti alloys based on Be12Ti as an advanced option, because of their superior properties compared with beryllium metal in such respects as compatibility with structural materials and oxidation resistance at higher temperatures. In this paper, recent results on beryllide R&D in Japan are described.