In April 2010, two thermo-oxidation experiments ('O-bakes') were performed in the DIII-D tokamak. Internal surfaces of the tokamak, as well as a number of specimens inserted into the torus, were exposed to a mixture of 20% O2/80% He at a nominal pressure of 9.5 Torr (1.27 kPa) at a temperature of 350–360 °C for a duration of 2 h. Three primary conclusions have been drawn from these experiments: (1) laboratory measurements on the release of deuterium from tokamak codeposits by oxidation have been duplicated in a tokamak environment, (2) no internal tokamak components or systems were adversely affected by the oxidation and (3) the recovery of plasma performance following oxidation was similar to that following regular torus openings.
Experimental observations of lithium as a plasma-facing surface in the DIII-D tokamak divertor