Process and apparatus for condensation repressing isotope separation by laser activation

A process for enriching a selected isotope of uranium from a mixture of gaseous UF6 isotopomers in a supersonic low-pressure flow chamber, comprising the steps of:

• a. super-cooling multiple axisymmetric supersonic free jets comprising UF6 and carrier gases by adiabatic expansion of said gases from a common feed chamber into a common flow chamber through multiple inlet nozzles and in each of said supersonic free jets, thereby creating an axisymmetric supersonic jet core flow surrounded radially by a barrel shaped shock region and subsonic chamber-background rim gas;
• b. selectively exciting isotopomers of UF6 in a mixture of UF6 and carrier gases using photons and providing via said multiple jets acting together, an increased total peripheral escape surface area for said selectively excited UF6 isotopomers entering said chamber background rim gas;
• c. separating said supersonic jet core flows in each of said multiple jets from said subsonic chamber-background rim gas, by capturing said supersonic jet-core flows in said free jets with recovery skimmers, each said skimmer located opposite each inlet nozzle so as to intercept each supersonic core flow of each supersonic free jet;
• and
• d. wherein said multiple inlet nozzles producing said supersonic free jets are spaced apart in line internally on one side of said flow chamber, and wherein each of said skimmers is paired with one of said inlet nozzles and is located a distance away opposite said one of said gas inlet nozzles on the other internal side of said flow chamber.