This paper reviews proposals on the plasma processing of radioactive waste (RW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The chemical reprocessing of SNF based on the extraction of its components from water solutions is rather expensive and produces new waste. The paper presents known experimental research on plasma separation of the mixtures of chemical elements and isotopes, whose results can help evaluate the plasma methods of RW and SNF reprocessing. Analysis identifies the difference in ionization levels of RW and SNF components at their transition to the plasma phase as a reason why all plasma methods are difficult to apply.

Keywords: plasma centrifuge, magnetic trap, centrifugal trap, ion cyclotron resonance, spent nuclear fuel PACS: 28.41.Kw, 52.25.Xz, 52.30.−q, 52.75.−d (all) DOI: 10.3367/UFNe.2016.12.038016 URL: https://ufn.ru/en/articles/2017/10/b/ 000419110600002 2-s2.0-85040914590 2017PhyU...60..994D Citation: Dolgolenko D A, Muromkin Yu A "On separation of mixtures of chemical elements in plasma" Phys. Usp. 60 994–1017 (2017) BibTexBibNote ® (generic)BibNote ® (RIS)MedlineRefWorks Received: 18th, October 2016, revised: 9th, December 2016, accepted: 21st, December 2016 Оригинал: Долголенко Д А, Муромкин Ю А «О разделении смесей химических элементов в плазме» УФН 187 1071–1096 (2017); DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.2016.12.038016