Material selection charts for radiation shielding

Engineering designs for extreme radiation environments, such as compact fusion reactors and nuclear space propulsion, seek increasingly smaller or lighter material solutions, and will expose them to harsher radiation fields than seen previously. This project has produced the first nuclear material selection charts, by reformulating the problem of radiation transport using the framework of material selection. These charts can efficiently compare the performance of all existing materials for a given problem of radiation shielding. They have revealed materials that outperform what is currently the best standard in the fusion industry.