Mirror-Enhanced Plasma Separation Process (MPSP) for Production of Large Quantities of Isotopes

Large quantities of certain separated isotopes, such as Ge-76, Se-82, Te-130, and Xe-136, are needed in radiation detector systems for rare particle and rare decay detection in nuclear physics research. Such needs cannot be addressed by existing isotope separation technologies, such as centrifuges and Calutrons. This project will develop an advanced Mirror-Enhance Plasma Separation Process (MPSP) for separating large quantities of needed isotopes efficiently and inexpensively. Although MPSP is based on the PSP (Plasma Separation Process) technique, it yields significantly higher efficiency and throughput. MPSP has been used to successfully separate 37Rb87 from the naturally occurring 27.83% to over 96%. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: In addition to the application for nuclear physics, stable isotopes are precursors for most of the medical radioactive isotopes used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Stable isotopes also are used as specialized industrial materials in nuclear power plants (non-fuel), electronics, non-destructive testing, etc.