Tritium Production from Nitrogen in a Tokomak Reactor Resulting from a Neutron Source

Tritium is an important isotope of hydrogen used in deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel in nuclear fusion reactors, but it is only naturally occurring on Earth in the upper atmosphere resulting from galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) interactions, which produces small amounts of tritium. This poses a problem because tritium is an important component for nuclear fusion reactors that utilize deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel. This study investigates tritium production by applying the nuclear reaction resulting from GCR interactions and a mathematical model for the flux of neutrons that reflect the energy levels associated with the resulting neutrons from D-T reactions to a two-dimensional domain representing the tritium production layer in a tokomak reactor. The results of this study indicate that for a feasible amount of tritium production, the nitrogen density must be exceptionally higher than that of nitrogen gas. As such, GCR interactions do not produce a feasible source of tritium production for D-T fuel. KEYWORDS: Galactic Cosmic Rays; Tokamak; Tritium; Neutron; Neutron Diffusion; Nuclear Fission; Tritium Breeding Ratio; Tritium Production