  Fusion and advanced fission power plants require advanced nuclear materials
to function under new, extreme environments. Understanding the evolution of
mechanical and functional properties during radiation damage is essential to
the design and commercial deployment of these systems. The shortcomings of
existing methods could be addressed by a new technique - intermediate energy
proton irradiation (IEPI) - using beams of 10 - 30 MeV protons to rapidly and
uniformly damage bulk material specimens before direct testing of engineering
properties. IEPI is shown to achieve high fidelity to fusion and fission
environments in both primary damage production and transmutation, often
superior to nuclear reactor or typical (low-range) ion irradiation. Modeling
demonstrates that high doserates (0.1 - 1 DPA/per day) can be achieved in bulk
material specimens (100 - 300 {\mu}m) with low temperature gradients and
induced radioactivity. The capabilities of IEPI are demonstrated through a 12
MeV proton irradiation and tensile test of 250 {\mu}m thick tensile specimens
of a nickel alloy (Alloy 718), reproducing neutron-induced data. These results
demonstrate that IEPI enables high throughput assessment of materials under
reactor-relevant conditions, positioning IEPI to accelerate the pace of
engineering-scale radiation damage testing and allow for quicker and more
effective design of nuclear energy systems.
