Effects of different nuclear reactions on internal tritium breeding in deuterium fusion

A catalytic regime for tritium in deuterium-tritium (DT,) fusion is investi gated, including ion-electron collisions, mechanical expansion, bremsstrahl ung radiation and inverse Compton scattering losses. It is shown that the c onsideration of the three main nuclear reactions of the hydrogen isotopes ( D(D,n)He-3, D(D,p)T and T(D,n)He-4) only leads to erroneous results for int ernal tritium breeding. Among the secondary reactions in DT fusion, the rea ction He-3(D,p)He-4 is the most important in the tritium catalytic regime, due to its large contribution to the plasma heating. When all the nuclear r eactions are taken into account, internal tritium breeding is found to be p ossible in a short range of parameters defining the target performance (tri tium content parameter x, areal density and ignition temperature).