PLASMA SEPARATION OF THE ELEMENTS APPLIED TO NUCLEAR MATERIALS HANDLING

摘要

Physical plasma method of separation by mass of the constituent elements together with chemical methods could find application in the fuel cycle of fast recators. These methods could also be useful for separating decay products during reprocessing of spent fuel of existing reactors and in the solution of questions concerning safety and nonproliferation. A possible plasma separation scheme is presented: solid-state material is transferred in a magnetic field into a low-temperature plasma flow and ions in a prescribed mass range are selectively accelerated and then spatially separated in a toroidal magnetic field.