Recent advances in modeling and simulation of the exposure and response of tungsten to fusion energy conditions

Marian, J.*; Becquart, C. S.*; Domain, C.*; Dudarev, S. L.*; Gilbert, M. R.*; Kurtz, R. J.*; Mason, D. R.*; Nordlund, K.*; Sand, A. E.*; Snead, L. L.*; Suzudo, Tomoaki   ; Wirth, B. D.*

Under the anticipated operating conditions for demonstration magnetic fusion reactors beyond ITER, structural materials will be exposed to unprecedented conditions of irradiation, heat flux, and temperature. While such extreme environments remain inaccessible experimentally, computational modeling and simulation can provide qualitative and quantitative insights into materials response and complement the available experimental measurements. For plasma facing components such as the first wall and the divertor, tungsten (W) has been selected as the best candidate material due to its superior high-temperature and irradiation properties. In this paper we provide a review of recent efforts in computational modeling of W both as a plasma-facing material as well as a bulk structural material subjected to fast neutron irradiation. We highlight several of the most salient findings obtained via computational modeling and point out a number of remaining future challenges.