UC Irvine

The d(d, p)t and d(d, n) 3He fusion reactions produce 1 MeV tritons and 0.8 MeV 3He ions which can subsequently undergo d(t, n) α and d(3He, p) α fusion reactions. The magnitude of this triton and 3He ion ‘burn-up’ was measured on the PLT and PDX tokamaks by detection of the 14 MeV neutron and 15 MeV proton emission. In discharges with Bφ > 2 T, the measured 3He and triton burn-up is consistent (within a factor of three) with predictions based on classical theories of ion confinement and slowing down. In discharges with weaker toroidal fields but constant plasma current, the burn-up of both ions fell by more than a factor of ten so that the observed burn-up was significantly less than expected classically. © 1983 IOP Publishing Ltd.