Vacuum arc plasma mass separator

Abstract

The propagation of a metal plasma flow in a transport system with a curvilinear magnetic field was studied experimentally. The flow was generated by a pulsed vacuum arc discharge with a composite (W+Fe) cathode. The ion energy measurements at the transport system output showed that all ion components were accelerated up to equal energies per charge unit, about 150 eV and 320 eV in the outer and inner areas of the curved plasma flow, respectively. The spatial separation of the atoms of the cathode material was measured at the system output by x-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The ions of the lighter element (Fe) were concentrated in the inner part of the cathodic plasma flow deflected by the magnetic field while the distribution of the heavy element (W) was substantially shifted toward the outer area of the flow. The maximum mass separation efficiency reached 45, the effective value being 7.7. Such a system is promising for use in plasma technology for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, namely for the separation of the heavy radioactive fission product from nuclear waste.