Simulation of ion flux of actinides and uranium fission products in the plasma separator with a potential well

Abstract

This work is devoted to the development of a plasma mass separation method with a potential well for spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. The configuration of the separation chamber with an axial magnetic field up to 0.25 T and a radial electric field up to 3 kV/m is considered. Using numerical simulation, we study the ion flux motion with the same mass composition as the spent nuclear fuel injected along magnetic field lines. The effect of fields and initial injection parameters on the spatial separation of actinides from uranium fission products is investigated. The simulation of the ion flux motion is also performed taking into account elastic collisions of ions with background gas atoms. Elastic collision cross sections for U+, Pu+, Cs+, and Sr+ ions in helium and argon are obtained theoretically. We show that in argon, the separation is possible up to a pressure of the order of 1 mTorr, while in helium, it is possible to separate elements by mass groups in the collisional regime at pressures up to about 10 mTorr.