Overview of selective photo-reaction

Selective reaction process especially isotope separation is a key technology for the development of the technologies related to the nuclear energy. However only a few species are separated on a production scale using the conventional processes such as thermal diffusion, chemical exchange reaction and distillation for lighter isotopes, and gas centrifuge and gaseous diffusion for uranium. As these methods are based on statistical thermodynamics and have low enrichment factors, they need repetitive operations of separation with many separating units combined together. Electro-magnetic separation method known as the one with high separation factor can be applied to most of the elements, but extremely low production rate is realized, which is uneconomical. From the above point of view, much attention has been pain to the laser process. This method can be applied to either gas, liquid or solid phase, and high separation factors are basically realized only in gaseous phase. Since the beginning of the studies on isotope separation in early 1970s, many ideas have been proposed for the selective photo-reaction process such as photoionization, multiphoton dissociation and state selective chemical reaction. As a result of experimental and theoretical efforts, large scale production of some isotopes have been intended. Production of deuterium by infrared multi-photodissociation method was studied aiming at the replacement of the conventional dual temperature exchange process, and lots of experiments have been achieved intensively for the uranium enrichment. A stepwise selective photoionization method has also been studied for the isotopic separation of many elements, especially uranium enrichment. To implement the laser processes on a large scale production system, advanced performances are required not only for the tunable laser systems but also for many related technologies such as atomic/molecular source, photo-reactor and extractor of products. (author)