Effect of ⁶Li + ⁶Li Reactions in a Fusion Reactor Operating on ⁶Li(p, α)³He

Ancillary ⁶Li + ⁶Li reactions will produce products, some of which are radioactive, in a fusion reactor operating on the ⁶Li(p,α)³He cycle. Available cross-section data for ⁶Li + ⁶Li reactions have been used to compute the reaction rates as a function of temperature in such a reactor. Below 80 keV, the rate of ancillary reactions is less than that for ¹H + ⁶Li by at least 10³, but this factor diminishes until at 270 keV it is only ∼10. An appreciable fraction of the ancillary reactions leads to the radioactive products ⁷Be + n.