Tritium Removal by CO{sub 2} Laser Heating

Efficient techniques for rapid tritium removal will be necessary for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) to meet its physics and engineering goals. One potential technique is transient surface heating by a scanning CO(subscript 2) or Nd:Yag laser that would release tritium without the severe engineering difficulties of bulk heating of the vessel. We have modeled the heat propagation into a surface layer and find that a multi-kW/cm(superscript2) flux with an exposure time of order 10 msec is suitable to heat a 50 micron co-deposited layer to 1,000-2,000 degrees. Improved wall conditioning may be a significant side benefit. We identify remaining issues that need to be addressed experimentally