I have just come across a new (at least to me) technical paper on the operation of the Silex process which I found interesting. The paper not only summaries what in thought (by academics) to be the way the process operates but also goes into the economics of its operation. There are a number of other papers in the topic by Snyder, Eekins and Fos but this one iwhich is a competitors from 2016 and possibly more up to date than most (it is also has been advised by Eekins who was a professor at Missouri Univ who developed CRISLA which is a competitor - an other report says that in the 1990's Silex and CRISLA briefly co-operated but then went their separate ways - evidently with some acronym). The abstract to the paper is:
Of particular interest is the section on the laser and the difficulty (and alternatives) for a 16 micron laser on page 22 - I suspect that the current laser uses one of the technologies thought to require development since it appears the original concept of a CO2 laser with para hydrogen Raman shift proved unreliable. As the paper says the laser technology has likely moved on and thus the costs quoted are considerably higher than current costs, Another issue where I disagree is over the possibility for "proliferation" - the paper does not appear to address the issue that the Silex process is more efficient at low 235UF6 assays and becomes progressively less efficient for HEU production (where they would probable use "stripping" - remove the 238UF6 rather than enriching 235UF6. I also suspect that there have been considerable changes in the separation technology which IMHO is now likely influenced by aerodynamic isotope separation technology (see https://www.klydon.co.za/asp_technology.html)
The paper is called (but see links above for detail)
Optimization and analysis of the laser isotope separation technique SILEX and ensuing proliferation ramifications
SLX Price at posting:
$4.23 Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)