A new ion cyclotron range of frequency scenario for bulk ion heating in deuterium-tritium plasmas: How to utilize intrinsic impurities in our favour

Abstract

A fusion reactor requires plasma pre-heating before the rate of deuterium-tritium fusion reactions becomes significant. In ITER, radio frequency (RF) heating of 3He ions, additionally puffed into the plasma, is one of the main options considered for increasing bulk ion temperature during the ramp-up phase of the pulse. In this paper, we propose an alternative scenario for bulk ion heating with RF waves, which requires no extra 3He puff and profits from the presence of intrinsic Beryllium impurities in the plasma. The discussed method to heat Be impurities in D-T plasmas is shown to provide an even larger fraction of fuel ion heating.