Uranium enrichment

This chapter discusses the development of uranium enrichment processes. In the introduction there is a brief history of uranium enrichment, followed by a summary of the criteria used for the assessment of an isotope separation process, e.g. the separation factor, separative power, and the power consumption of a separating element. This is followed by a discussion of the two main processes used, i.e. gaseous diffusion and centrifugation. The reason for the change from diffusion to centrifugation in the UK, mainly on power costs, is discussed. The development potential of centrifuges is also assessed. Other processes which have been developed up to pilot stage are described, e.g. the Becker jet nozzle and the South African process. This is followed by a description of some plasma-based methods. The next topic is concerned with chemical exchange methods and an attempt is made to assess their potential in the enrichment scene from published information. This chapter concludes with a discussion of the advanced laser isotope-separation methods. The two approaches, i.e. the atomic and the molecular routes are discussed again using published information. This information is insufficient to give a complete assessment of the methods, especially the molecular route, but is enough to give indications of their potential