Niobium alloy steel
I have no info on how this material holds up to long term radiation. But, I do know that many of these alloys were developed in research sponsored by the old AEC back in the 50's. Nb is very important for modern high pressure/temperature boilers. In the past the standard Cr/M alloys were used for boiler tubes operating up to around 1200 degrees. The yield strength of these alloys drops rapidly when you get past 1200. For temperatures above this, designers generally switched to austenitic (stainless) steel with 15-20% Cr. There were some fundamental problems with this. At some point in the boiler it was necessary to weld the ferritic and austneitic tubing together. These welds had a limited lifetime because of cyclic thermal stresses. Most modern boilers now use Cr/M/Nb alloy tubes instead of the high Cr stainless grades. The addition of less than 1% Nb to the alloy raises the permissible operating temperature of the material at least 100 degrees, makes it significantly stronger, and the welds will last as long as the base metal.
In a power plant increased temperature and pressure is very important. It increases the overall plant efficiency. You burn the same amount of fuel and produce the same emissions but you generate more electricity with less waste.
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