Investigation of plasma flow in vacuum arc with hot cathode

One of the crucial problems which appear under development of plasma technology processing of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is the design of plasma source. The plasma source must use solid SNF as a raw material. This article is devoted to experimental study of vacuum arc with hot cathode made of gadolinium that may consider as the simple model of SNF. This vacuum discharge was investigated in wide range of parameters. During the experiments arc current and voltage, cathode temperature, and heat flux to the cathode were measured. The data on plasma spectrum and electron temperature were obtained. It was shown that external heating of the cathode allows change significantly the main parameters of plasma. It was established by spectral and probe methods that plasma jet in studied discharge may completely consist of single charged ions.