Abstract
This chapter gives a brief introduction to thermonuclear burning of fusion core plasmas . To begin with, we discuss some fusion reactions important for energy production on Earth. For each reaction, the reaction Q-value , the graph of reaction cross-section, and the kinetic energies of reaction products are given. After explaining the necessity of plasma for energy generation, we introduce a concept of thermonuclear reaction and define the reaction rate parameter (or reactivity in short). The reactivity curves are also shown as a function of the plasma temperature. Magnetic confinement and inertial confinement are two main approaches to achieve the fusion core plasma. Necessary conditions for thermonuclear ignition in these schemes are described. Finally, we give rough estimates of the fractional burn-up of fuel in core plasmas.
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Notes
- 1.
For D-T reaction, B ≈ 0.4 MeV.
- 2.
A semi-classical method in quantum mechanics.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge useful comments and discussions with Dr. M. Nakamura (Japan Atomic Energy Agency), Assoc. Prof. T. Johzaki (Hiroshima Univ.), and Assoc. Prof. H. Matsuura (Kyushu Univ.), and also thank Dr. V.T. Voronchev (Moscow State Univ.) and Prof. T. Tanabe (Kyushu Univ.) for helpful suggestions and a critical review, respectively.
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Nakao, Y. (2017). Burning Plasma. In: Tanabe, T. (eds) Tritium: Fuel of Fusion Reactors . Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56460-7_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-56460-7_4
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