James Blanchard's research interests include radiation damage in fission and fusion environments, fusion reactor design, laser-induced stresses, and nuclear microbatteries. The design of fusion and fission reactor components requires an understanding of radiation effects in high temperature environments. Blanchard and his students carry out studies of the effects of high heat flux and radiation on structural materials in extreme environments. A second major research area is the development of long-lived nuclear microbatteries. Blanchard and his collaborators are using the decay of radioisotopes to create power sources for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices using various conversion approaches.