Efficiency criteria for optimization of separation cascades for uranium enrichment

As it is known, uranium enrichment is carried out on industrial scale by means of multistage separation facilities, i.e., separation cascades in which gas centrifuges (GCs) are connected in series and parallel. Design and construction of these facilities require significant investment. So, the problem of calculation and optimization of cascade working parameters is still relevant today. At the same time, in many cases, the minimum unit cost of a product is related to the cascade having the smallest possible number of separation elements/GCs. Also, in theoretical studies, it is often acceptable to apply as an efficiency criterion the minimum total flow to supply cascade stages instead of the abovementioned minimum unit cost or the number of separation elements. In this article, cascades with working parameter of a single GC changing from stage to stage are optimized by two of the abovementioned performance criteria and are compared. The results obtained allow us to make a conclusion about their differences.