LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Isotope Separation
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South Korea's multiyear laser isotope separation research programs have involved researchers from KAERI, private industry and academia. The majority of the program's research efforts were clearly aimed at industrial and medical applications. Pertinent scientific research that has been carried out and reported in publicly available reports and the scientific literature was analyzed for this and an earlier report. Efforts in both the molecular and atomic vapor isotope separation schemes were looked at. Sources used were Chemical Abstracts, Engineering Abstracts, Nuclear and Energy Citation Abstracts, INSPEC and the European patent database.
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Plasma centrifuges are devices designed to achieve isotope enrichment and separation. In the configuration presently under development at LAP a vacuum arc produces a plasma column which rotates by action of an applied magnetic field. The heavier isotopes concentrate in the outer edge of the plasma column resulting in an enriched mixture that can be selectively extracted. Experimental and theoretical work carried out at LAP concentrates in the characterization, optimization and modeling of the rotating arc discharge.
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Many scientists initially thought the best hope for isotope separation was the high-speed centrifuge, a device based on the same principle as the cream separator. Centrifugal force in a cylinder spinning rapidly on its vertical axis would separate a gaseous mixture of two isotopes since the lighter isotope would be less affected by the action and could be drawn off at the center and top of the cylinder. A cascade system composed of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of centrifuges could produce a rich mixture. Centrifuge research, being pursued primarily by Jesse W. Beams at the University of Virginia and Harold Urey at Columbia University, received much of the early isotope separation funding.
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To date, large-scale commercial isotope separation of only three elements has occurred. In each case, the rarer of the two most common isotopes of an element has been concentrated for use in nuclear technology:
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Time-resolved measurements of isotope separation in a neon plasma, accelerated to high rotational velocity by J*B forces, are presented. Samples were extracted from the plasma using a fast-acting valve, and were isotopically analysed by an on-line quadrupole mass spectrometer. The dependence of isotope separation on various parameters was investigated; changes in isotopic ratio as large as 20% were observed. The results are compared with a simple theoretical model based on observed electrical probe voltages and spectroscopic plasma temperature measurements.
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Lithium isotope separation by displacement chromatography was performed with a resin packed column of 0.8 cm inner diameter and 100 cm length at 293 K under the pressure of 10, 12, 15 and 18 kPa. Lithium-7 and lithium-6 were enriched in the solution phase and in the resin phase, respectively. Enrichment factor became minimum at 15 MPa, though the difference between the values under each pressure was not large. Enrichment factor was obtained as 0.002-0.012.
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Isotope Separation