EFDA-JET-CP(04)03/48

pT Fusion by RF-heated Protons in JET Trace Tritium Discharges

In magnetically confined fusion plasmas, other nuclear reactions can take place in addition to the main D-T, D-D and D-3He fusion reactions. This is especially true, when plasmas contain ion populations with highly suprathermal energy distributions, created e.g. by RF-heating of the plasma ions. pT fusion is a neutron-producing reaction between tritons and energetic protons with a large cross-section above 1MeV. In prior work, it has been observed in JET through excess neutron production in purely RF-heated high-tritium fraction (>90%) plasmas during the DTE1 campaign. We have performed a systematic study of pT fusion in purely ICRF-heated plasmas with low tritium density (typically nt/ne ~ 1%).
Name Size  
EFDC040348 868.95 Kb