ISOTOPE SEPARATION BY MULTISTAGE METHODS

Isotopes of an element can be separated either by single-stage or multistage processes. This chapter describes the multistage methods for isotope separation. The single-stage method of importance is the electro-magnetic method. The electromagnetic method enables large enrichments to be achieved in a single stage and it is versatile because the same machine can be used to separate the isotopes of any element. The other methods of separation depend on the fact that there are slight differences in the properties of isotopic substances, as a result of which slight separations of isotopes occur in a variety of simple chemical and physical processes such as distillation or diffusion. The important multistage methods of separation are electrolysis, fractional distillation, chemical exchange methods, and gaseous and thermal diffusion, though many other methods have been used to produce partial separation of isotopes.