The friction, wear, and corrosion performance of several metallurgical coatings in 200 to 650/sup 0/C sodium are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on those coatings which have successfully passed the qualification tests necessary for acceptance in breeder reactor environments. Tests include friction, wear, corrosion, thermal cycling, self-welding, and irradiation exposure under as-prototypic-as-possible service conditions. Materials tested were coatings of various refractory metal carbides in metallic binders, nickel-base and cobalt-base alloys and intermetallic compounds such as the aluminides and borides. Coating processes evaluated included plasma spray, detonation gun, sputtering, spark-deposition, and solid-state diffusion.

Initial tandem mirror hybrid studies predict the ability to produce large amounts of fissile fuel (2 to 7 tons U233 per year from a 4000 MW plant) at a cost that adds less than 25% to the cost of power from a LWR.

Lasers for fusion experiments use thin-film dielectric coatings for reflecting, antireflecting and polarizing surface elements. Coatings are most important to the Nd:glass laser application. The most important requirements of these coatings are accuracy of the average value of reflectance and transmission, uniformity of amplitude and phase front of the reflected or transmitted light, and laser damage threshold. Damage resistance strongly affects the laser's design and performance. The success of advanced lasers for future experiments and for reactor applications requires significant developments in damage resistant coatings for ultraviolet laser radiation.