In recent years the effort devoted to assuring both the safety and
reliability of commercial nuclear fission power reactors has markedly
increased. The incentives for performing this work are large since the
resulting im- provement in plant productivity translates into lower fuel
costs and, more importantly, reduced reliance on imported oil.
Reliability and availability of nuclear power plants, whether fission or
fusion, demand that more attention be focused on the behavior of
materials. Recent experiences with fission power indicate that the basic
properties of materials, which categorize their reliable behavior under
specified conditions, need reinforcement to assure trouble-free
operation for the expected service life. The pursuit of additional
information con- tinues to demand a better understanding of some of the
observed anom- alous behavior, and of the margin of resistance of
materials to unpre- dictable service conditions. It is also apparent
that, next to plasma heating and confinement, materials selection
represents the most serious chal- lenge to the introduction of fusion
power. The recognition of the importance of materials performance to nu-
clear plant performance has sustained a multimillion dollar worldwide
research and development effort that has yielded significant results,
both in quantification of the performance limits of materials in current
use and the development and qualification of new materials. Most of this
infor- mation appears in the open literature in the form of research
reports, journal articles, and conference proceedings.