The Helikon vortex separation process is an aerodynamic uranium enrichment process designed around a device called a vortex tube. This method was designed and used in South Africa for producing reactor fuel with a uranium-235 content of around 3–5%, and 80–93% enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons. The Uranium Enrichment Corporation of South Africa, Ltd. (UCOR) developed the process, operating a facility at Pelindaba (known as the 'Y' plant) to produce hundreds of kilograms of HEU. Aerodynamic enrichment processes require large amounts of electricity and are not generally considered economically competitive because of high energy consumption and substantial requirements for removal of waste heat. The South African enrichment plant has apparently been closed.
Read more about Helikon Vortex Separation Process: Process
Famous quotes containing the words vortex, separation and/or process:
“The Image is more than an idea. It is a vortex or cluster of fused ideas and is endowed with energy.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)
“Reunion after long separation is even better than one’s wedding night.”
—Chinese proverb.
“The process of education in the oldest profession in the world is like any other educational process, in that it requires time and effort and patience; it can only be acquired by taking one step at a time, though the steps become accelerated after the first few.”
—Madeleine [Blair], U.S. prostitute and “madam.” Madeleine, ch. 4 (1919)