Effect of alpha particle heating on plasma energy confinement time and other characteristics of a tokamak reactor

The influence of energy production in a tokamak reactor on plasma transport processes is considered. The analysis is carried out with the assumption that the transport processes depend on the difference between the fusion plasma temperature profile and the profile which would be prescribed by the ideal of profile consistency. It is shown that the additional thermal flux arising owing to the profile difference fundamentally affects the reactor parameters. Namely, the smallest reactor size required for a self-sustained fusion reaction increases, the ignition temperature increases and the temperature of the stable burn decreases. Expressions describing the change of conditions of the steady state burn are obtained. (author). 10 refs, 2 figs