The Relevance of Various Neutron Sources to Fusion-Reactor Radiation Effects

Primary-recoil spectra, damage-energy spectra, and rates for (n,2n), (n,p), and (n,α) reactions were calculated for niobium exposed to several neutron environments. Neutrons from the ⁹Be(d,n) reaction introduce defects with qualitative similarities to those produced by a D-T fusion reactor. Low-energy neutrons such as those present in the core of EBR-II induce neither high-energy primary recoils nor significant transmutations.