Separation of short-lived fission products

A rbief review is presented on the various methods of separation available for both gaseous and liquid states, for the separation of short-lived fission products formed by binary fission of neutron irradiated uranium. The means available for gaseous state are the hot atom reaction, the hydride method and on-line mass separation. For liquid state, use can be made of precipitation, ionic or atomic exchange, solvent extraction and paper electrophoresis. Particular reference is made to electrophoretic separation of ions produced by fission in aqueous solution of uranium. The principle of electrophoretic separation and the procedures for separating the element of interest from the other fission products are outlined, with reference made to the results obtained with the method by the present authors. The elements in question are alkalines, alkaline earths, rare earths, halogens, selenium and