Wall conditioning and leak localization in the advanced toroidal facility

The Advanced Toroidal Facility (ATF) vacuum vessel and its internal components have been conditioned for plasma operation by baking, discharge cleaning with hydrogen and helium, and gettering with chromium and titanium. The plasma-facing surface of ATF consists mainly of stainless steel with some graphite; the outgassing area is dominated by the graphite because of its open porosity. Since this situation is somewhat different from that in other fusion plasma experiments, in which a single material dominates both the outgassing area and the plasma-facing area, different cleaning and conditioning techniques are required. The situation was aggravated by air leaks in the vacuum vessel, presumably resulting from baking and from vibration during plasma operation. The results of the various cleaning and conditioning techniques used are presented and compared on the basis of residual gas analysis and plasma performance. A technique for detecting leaks from the inside of the vacuum vessel is described; this technique was developed because access to the outside of the vessel is severely restricted by external components. 10 refs., 6 figs., 2 tabs