The deuterium cycle (D-cycle) in fusion reactors

Fusion reactions in the deuterium cycle (D+D, D+T and D+3He) are the main nucleus-nucleus interactions which occur in tokamaks and stellerators. Fusion cross-sections and fusion reactivities have been reviewed and compared with experimental data from the last ENDF/B-VIII.0 cross-section library. Fusion reactivities have been estimated through a numerical integration of ENDF fusion cross-sections and compared with several formulations. Lawson criterion has been appplied to D+T fuel plasma and compared with several fusion reactors. As a conclusion, this shows that physical models for the astrophysical factor S(E) and bremstrahlung losses should be reviewed, in order to apply fusion to energy production in safety conditions.

Autorentext

Dr. Miguel Ramos-Pascual holds a PhD in Monte Carlo simulations in nuclear technology (fusion and fission reactors) and bio-engineering (breast cancer screening, medical imaging and pharmacology)