The fraction of fusion-reaction energy that is released in energetic charged ions, such as the alpha particles of the D-T reaction, can be thermalized within the reacting plasma and used to maintain its temperature. This mechanism facilitates the achievement of very high energy-multiplication factors Q, but also raises a number of new issues of confinement physics. To ensure satisfactory reaction operation, three areas of energetic-ion interaction need to be addressed: single-ion transport in imperfectly symmetric magnetic fields or turbulent background plasmas; energetic-ion-driven (or stabilized) collective phenomena; and fusion-heat-driven collective phenomena. The first of these topics is already being explored in a number of tokamak experiments, and the second will begin to be addressed in the D-T-burning phase of TFTR and JET. Exploration of the third topic calls for high-Q operation, which is a goal of proposed next-generation plasma-burning projects. Planning for future experiments must take into consideration the full range of plasma-physics and engineering R D areas that need to be addressed on the way to a fusion power demonstration.