Electromagnetic isotope separation plants

Calutrons are electromagnetic isotope separators that operate like analytical mass spectrometers. The term calutron is a tribute to the work of E. O. Lawrence and his team of scientists who developed the process at their University of California cyclotron laboratory and assisted in its transformation to a production-scale process at the electromagnetic plant located at the Y-12 site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The Y-12 calutron process was replaced shortly after the end of World War II by the gaseous diffusion process located at the K-25 plant (also in Oak Ridge). The gaseous diffusion operation had much larger production capabilities and was far less labor intensive. 

The electromagnetic separation plant built during World War 11 at Oak Ridge, involved two types of calutrons, alpha and beta. The larger alpha calutrons were used for the enrichment of natural uranium, and the beta calutrons were used for the final separation of U from the pre-enriched alpha product. For the electromagnetic separation process, UO was converted into UCl [10026-10-5] with CCl. The UCl was fed into the calutron for separation. The calutron technique has been used to separate pure samples of and stable isotopes of many other elements. The Y-12 calutron... 

When the gaseous diffusion plant came into operation, the cost of separating U electromagnetically was found to be higher, and in 1946, the Y-12 plant was taken off uranium-isotope separation. Some of this equipment is now beii used to produce gram quantities of partially separated isotopes of most of the other polyisotopic elements, for research uses. These units have also been used to separate artificially produced isotopes, such as U from irradiated uranium, and the various plutonium isotopes. 

Improved electromagnetic processes. Developments in plasma physics and magnet design in the 30 years since the Y-12 plant was taken off uranium isotope separation have caused many groups to reexamine electromagnetic processes for separating uranium isotopes, some of which reported at the London Conference on Uranium Isotope Separation [B20]. In the United States... 

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