Numerical Simulation of Characteristics of Uranium and Fission Products Ion Fluxes in the Process of Plasma Separation

This paper presents the numerical simulation results of characteristics and efficiency of separation of uranium ion fluxes and its fission products in the process of the plasma separation. The movement of beams of heavy (238 u) and light (160 u) single-charged ions in vacuum and in helium buffer plasma has been investigated at a pressure of 10 mtorr, magnetic fields 0.8–1.2 kG and electrical potentials up to 1 kV. The interaction between the ion beams and their interaction with the buffer plasma has been taken into account. The numerical simulation of plasma has been conducted in a drift–diffusion approximation. It has been shown that the presence of buffer plasma in the area of ion fluxes and occurring compensation of their space charge can greatly improve the separation efficiency compared to the separation of ion fluxes in vacuum.