Fast and efficient tritium removal is needed for future DT machines with carbon plasma facing components. A novel method for tritium release has been demonstrated on codeposited layers on tiles retrieved from the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR) and from the Joint European Torus (JET). A scanning continuous wave Nd laser beam was focused to 100 W/mm2 and scanned at high speed over the codeposits,heating them to temperatures 2000oC forabout 10ms in either air or argon atmospheres. Up to 87% of the codeposited tritium was thermally desorbed from the JET and TFTR samples. Fiber optic coupling between the laser and scanner was implemented. This technique appears to be a promising in situ method for tritium removal in a next step DT device as it does not rely on oxidation,and avoids the associated deconditioning of the plasma facing surfaces and the expense of processing large quantities of tritium oxide.