Research on Production Technology of ¹³¹Xe Isotope by Gas Centrifuge

¹³¹Xe isotope with high abundance are widely applied in inertial navigation and the medical field. The centrifugal method is proved to be the most efficient method for separation of xenon isotope. It is the purpose of this research to obtain ¹³¹Xe isotope with abundance of over 90% by centrifugal method. By an efficient method to calculation multi-component square cascades, the separation characteristic of intermediate component isotope was analyzed. Influence of parameters, such as cascade length, feed position and the cut on separation effect were studied. Optimization design of run schemes for separation of ¹³¹Xe isotope was carried out. The scheme for producing ¹³¹Xe with the concentration of 90% was designed. The process of producing high enriched ¹³¹Xe isotope is introduced in the paper. A serial of key technologies such as the adjustment and stabilization of working conditions of cascade and the enrichment of intermediate component were solved. The isotope products ¹³¹Xe with the concentration of more than 90% can be obtained by multistep processes.