Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The field of laser induced chemistry began in earnest early in the 1970's with the initiation of major efforts in laser isotope separation (LIS) of uranium. Though many specialized, small-scale photochemical and diagnostic applications have been identified and evaluated experimentally, and continue to show promise, currently the only high payoff, large-scale applications remain LIS of special elements. Aspects of the physical scaling, technology status and economic basis of uranium LIS are examined with special emphasis on the effort at LLNL.