  Developing materials that can withstand the intense environments of nuclear
fusion reactors is critical in developing long-term commercial viability for
energy production. Tungsten is the primary candidate as a plasma facing
material due to its exceptional resilience in extreme fusion settings. However,
the continuous high energy helium and neutron damage threatens mechanical
stability, calling into question the long time commercial reliability for
fusion energy generation. In order to address these issues, novel methods of
nanoporous structures have been shown to suppress and annihilate the
accumulation of defects that leads to structural instability that can be
applied to improve the reliability of tungsten as a plasma facing material.
There is currently a lack of experimental data on nanoporous Tungsten that
needs to be considered when choosing appropriate applications for this
material. Molecular dynamic simulations were utilized in examining the
mechanical and thermodynamic response of nanoporous tungsten systems under
fusion reactor relevant conditions under compressive strain. Bicontinuous
nanoporous structured Tungsten with small relative densities are shown to have
outstanding thermodynamic and mechanical stability under compression compared
to other Tungsten systems by possessing reduced defect densities and unique
defect twinning.
