Alpha-particle kinetic effects in the neutron emission of burning DT plasmas

Abstract

Fast α‐particle kinetic effects on the fuel ions are discussed in the perspective that they can give rise to minority populations of super thermal fuel ions. The resulting modifications of the neutron emission spectrum are computed for a plasma in the state of thermonuclear burning such as envisaged for the planned ITER tokamak. Comparison is made with estimated the instrumental capabilities available for their observation. The findings represent the first evidence that neutron spectrometry is a potential α‐particle diagnostic for burning fusion plasmas.