This paper reviews the current theory of the processing of spent nuclear fuel by a plasma method using ion cyclotron heating. The method consists of selectively heating ash ions followed by extracting them from the cold plasma flow. It is shown that these processes are realizable for moderate values of system parameters. Through the analysis of spent fuel processing data, the paper yields results useful for other applications. A theory of helical wire antennas that are often used in plasma research is developed. A new interpretation is offered for the amplification of a HF electric field excited by such antennas. The concept of spatial instability is introduced for the stationary flow of a continuous medium, a phenomenon that leads to the downstream enhancement of perturbations due to nonmoving objects and can occur, for example, in a subsonic plasma flow along the magnetic field.

TY JOUR
TI On the theory of plasma processing of spent nuclear fuel
AU Timofeev, A. V.
PB Physics-Uspekhi
PY 2014
JO Physics-Uspekhi
JF Physics-Uspekhi
JA Phys. Usp.
VL 57
IS 10
SP 990-1021
UR https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2014/10/d/
ER https://doi.org/10.3367/UFNe.0184.201410g.1101