Nuclear Power Related Media Thread, page-4442

Whilst Mike is clearly an expert on uranium unfortunately he gets the physics of the LIS process wrong. The way he describes it (knocking off electrons and using magnets to deflect the 235U) is incorrect (this is the AVLIS process which has been abandoned) it is NOT Silex which is a UF6 process and involves breaking (with a precisely tuned v3 resonant frequency) UF6 + carrier gas dimers (i.e molecularity linked 235Uf6+carrier gas) into monomers (separated 235UF6 and carrier gas) and using the density difference (and/or suppression of condensation - the excited 235UF6 resists condensation slightly more than unexcited 238UF6) to separate the isotopes. Mike is correct that the technology may be used to remove 236U (a nuclear poison in UNF) to "refresh" the uranium. He was also correct in saying that LIS is far more flexible than centrifuge (and according to MG about half the capex)