From: Bob Higgins > MFMP intends to find out by purchasing some 96% enriched 62Ni to run in a > Parkhomov-like reactor. The cost to purchase 96% enriched 62Ni is $11.30/mg > (milligram)…
Bob – the thought just occurred, assuming that 62Ni is the only active isotope … and the others are neutral, then it is probably not wise to look for high enrichment levels, especially in centrifugal process enrichment. The reason is that the percentage enrichment per stage is higher in the early stages than in the later stages, while the processing cost per stage is about the same. There is a fixed cost to liquefy the nickel, but that is comparatively low. The depleted feedstock loss is minimized by going to lower enrichment. For instance it could be possible to enrich by a factor of 10 – e.g. from 3.6% to 36% in a few stages, but it requires exponentially more stages to reach 96%, perhaps 50 stages with far more depleted feedstock. Thus, one would be better off, cost-wise, in looking for the flexibility of getting the enrichment at the lowest net cost for the exact enrichment level desired in the end product, instead of getting a high enrichment and then diluting a nearly pure isotope back down. Jones
