Components & Hardware
Cryopump
Captures exhaust gas and helium ash on cold surfaces.
- Role
- Exhaust pumping
Cryopumps freeze exhaust gas onto cold panels, providing the high pumping speeds needed to control density and remove helium ash. They are the primary vacuum pumps for the plasma chamber.
Common questions
What does the cryopump do?
It freezes exhaust gas onto very cold surfaces to achieve the high pumping speeds a fusion vessel needs to control density and remove helium ash. It fills up and is periodically regenerated.
Does it handle tritium?
On the breeder, yes — the exhaust it captures is tritium-bearing, so cryopump regeneration is part of the tritium-handling loop, not just vacuum housekeeping.