Evidence of 9Be + p nuclear reactions during 2ωCH and hydrogen minority ICRH in JET-ILW hydrogen and deuterium plasmas

Abstract

The intensity of 9Be + p nuclear fusion reactions was experimentally studied during second harmonic (2ωCH) ion-cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) and further analyzed during fundamental hydrogen minority ICRH of JET-ILW hydrogen and deuterium plasmas. In relatively low-density plasmas with a high ICRH power, a population of fast H+ ions was created and measured by neutral particle analyzers. Primary and secondary nuclear reaction products, due to 9Be + p interaction, were observed with fast ion loss detectors, γ-ray spectrometers and neutron flux monitors and spectrometers. The possibility of using 9Be(p, d)2α and 9Be(p, α)6Li nuclear reactions to create a population of fast alpha particles and study their behaviour in non-active stage of ITER operation is discussed in the paper.