EFFECTS OF TRITIUM SEEDING OF ADVANCED FUSION FUELS

Nuclear fusion in DT, (LiD)-Li-6, (LiD)-Li-7, p(11)B, (BD)-B-10, (HeD) -He-3 and other mixtures is considered using a time dependent model ba sed on 44 nuclear reactions, including ion-electron collisions, bremss trahlung losses and mechanical expansion. The effect of the initial tr itium concentration on ignition temperature, neutron production and en ergy gain is analysed. It is found that tritium seeding can help ignit e DD, (HeD)-He-3 and (LiD)-Li-7 reactions. However, the effect is not so important in aneutronic fuels, such as (BH)-B-11. In all cases, all possible fusion reactions must be taken into account to optimize the plasma performance, for instance, to minimize the ignition temperature . Another important finding is the possibility of a catalytic regime f or tritium in several fuels, without needing external tritium breeding and reducing the tritium inventory.