Micron Document
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html class="client-nojs vector-feature-night-mode-disabled vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-sticky-header-enabled" lang="en" dir="ltr"><head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>COLEX process</title>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COLEX_process"> <link href="./mw/ext.cite.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/skins.vector.icons.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/skins.vector.search.codex.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/skins.vector.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<link href="./mw/user.styles.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css">
<meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content="">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./mw/site.styles.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./mw/noscript.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./footer.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./vector-2022.css">
</head>
<body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-COLEX_process rootpage-COLEX_process skin-vector-2022 action-view">
<div class="mw-page-container">
<div class="mw-page-container-inner">
<div class="mw-content-container">
<main id="content" class="mw-body">
<header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar">
<h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading">
<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">COLEX process</span></span>
</h1>
</header>
<a id="top"></a>
<div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body ve-init-mw-desktopArticleTarget-targetContainer" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container="">
<div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content mw-content-ltr" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr">
<p>The <b>COLEX process</b> (or <b>COLEX separation</b>) is a chemical method of <a href="Isotopic_separation" class="mw-redirect" title="Isotopic separation">isotopic separation</a> of <a href="Lithium-6" class="mw-redirect" title="Lithium-6">lithium-6</a> and <a href="Lithium-7" class="mw-redirect" title="Lithium-7">lithium-7</a>, based on the use of <a href="Mercury_(element)" title="Mercury (element)">mercury</a>. COLEX stands for column exchange.
</p><p>Since the beginning of the <a href="Atomic_era" class="mw-redirect" title="Atomic era">atomic era</a>, a variety of lithium enrichments methods have been developed (such as chemical exchange, electromagnetic, laser, centrifugal<sup id="cite_ref-iaea.org_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-iaea.org-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>) and the COLEX process has been the most extensively implemented method so far.
</p>
<meta property="mw:PageProp/toc">
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Early_development">Early development</h2></div>

<p>In the US, several chemical exchange methods for lithium isotope separation have been under investigation in the 1930s and 1940s to develop a process for lithium-6 production, so that <a href="Tritium" title="Tritium">tritium</a> could be obtained for thermonuclear weapons research.
</p><p>The system finally selected was the COLEX process, with aqueous <a href="Lithium_hydroxide" title="Lithium hydroxide">lithium hydroxide</a> (LiOH) contacted with lithium-mercury amalgam. This process was initially used in the US between 1955 and 1963 in the <a href="Y-12_National_Security_Complex" title="Y-12 National Security Complex">Y12 plant</a> in <a href="Oak_Ridge%2C_Tennessee" title="Oak Ridge, Tennessee">Oak Ridge, Tennessee</a>. The COLEX plants in Oak Ridge had a very rough start in 1955 with major problems in this entirely new, complicated, and potentially hazardous technology.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Stockpiles of lithium-6 and lithium-7 from that period have been available until recently to meet the relatively small domestic and world demand<sup id="cite_ref-iaea.org1_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-iaea.org1-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Since then, due to environmental concerns, the US has stopped lithium enrichments operations in 1963.<sup id="cite_ref-iaea.org_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-iaea.org-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p><a href="South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> also built a <a href="Pilot_plant" title="Pilot plant">pilot plant</a> using the COLEX method to make lithium-6 for <a href="Nuclear_programme_of_South_Africa" title="Nuclear programme of South Africa">its nuclear weapons program</a> in the 1970s.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Lithium_isotopes_and_uses">Lithium isotopes and uses</h2></div>

<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">
/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */


.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}


/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */
</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Isotopes_of_lithium" title="Isotopes of lithium">Isotopes of lithium</a></div>
<p>Natural lithium contains about 7.5% lithium-6 ( <span class="chemf nowrap"><span class="nowrap"><span style="display:inline-block;margin-bottom:-0.3em;vertical-align:-0.4em;line-height:1em;font-size:80%;text-align:right"><sup style="font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">6</sup><br><sub style="font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">3</sub></span></span>Li</span> ), with the rest being lithium-7 ( <span class="chemf nowrap"><span class="nowrap"><span style="display:inline-block;margin-bottom:-0.3em;vertical-align:-0.4em;line-height:1em;font-size:80%;text-align:right"><sup style="font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">7</sup><br><sub style="font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline">3</sub></span></span>Li</span> ).
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Natural_lithium">Natural lithium</h3></div>
<div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="Lithium" title="Lithium">Lithium</a></div>
<p>Naturally occurring lithium has many non nuclear industrial uses, ranging from <a href="Li-ion_batteries" class="mw-redirect" title="Li-ion batteries">Li-ion batteries</a>, ceramics, lubricants, to glass.
</p><p>In the beginning of the 21st century, the steady increase of lithium world production is mainly stimulated by the demand of Li-ion batteries for <a href="Electric_vehicles" class="mw-redirect" title="Electric vehicles">electric vehicles</a>.
</p><p>The nuclear applications of lithium requires relatively small annual quantities of lithium, in the form of enriched lithium-6 and lithium-7.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Lithium-6">Lithium-6</h3></div>
<p>Lithium-6 is valuable as the source material for the production of tritium and as an absorber of neutrons in nuclear fusion reactions.
</p><p>Enriched lithium-6 is used as a neutron booster in thermonuclear bombs, and will be a key component in the tritium breeding modules (required enrichment from 7.5% to 30%-90%) of the future fusion reactors based on plasma confinement.<sup id="cite_ref-iaea.org_1-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-iaea.org-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The separation of lithium-6 has by now ceased in the large thermonuclear powers (notably USA, Russia, China), but stockpiles of it remain in these countries.
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Lithium-7">Lithium-7</h3></div>
<p>Highly enriched lithium-7 (more than 99%) is used as a coolant in <a href="Molten_salt_reactor" class="mw-redirect" title="Molten salt reactor">molten salt reactors</a> (MSRs) and pH stabilizer in <a href="Pressurized_water_reactor" title="Pressurized water reactor">pressurized water reactors</a> (PWRs).<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Working_principle">Working principle</h2></div>
<p>Lithium-6 has a greater affinity than lithium-7 for the element mercury. When an amalgam of lithium and mercury is added to aqueous lithium hydroxide, the lithium-6 becomes more concentrated in the amalgam and the lithium-7 more in the hydroxide solution.
</p><p>The COLEX separation method makes use of this by passing a counter-flow of lithium-mercury amalgam flowing down and aqueous lithium hydroxide flowing up through a cascade of stages. The fraction of lithium-6 is preferentially drained by the mercury, but the lithium-7 flows mostly with the hydroxide. At the bottom of the column, the lithium (enriched with lithium-6) is separated from the amalgam, and the mercury is recovered to be reused in the process. At the top, the lithium hydroxide solution is electrolyzed to liberate the lithium-7 fraction.
</p><p>The enrichment obtained with this method varies with the column length, the flow speed, and the <a href="Operating_temperature" title="Operating temperature">operating temperature</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Advantages_and_disadvantages">Advantages and disadvantages</h2></div>
<p>From a technical and economical point of view, the COLEX separation has been so far the only method that enables industrial scale production of enriched lithium at minimal costs. The technology is mature, and has changed little since its development in the 1950s and 1960s.<sup id="cite_ref-berkeley.edu_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-berkeley.edu-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>The method is not without a number of drawbacks, the main of which are:
</p>
<ul><li>toxicity and large amounts of mercury, participating in the process</li>
<li>amalgam trend to decomposition in aqueous solutions</li>
<li>formation of dangerous mercury-containing waste</li>
<li>high energy consumption<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul>
<p>The technology has potentially disastrous environmental implications. A significant amount of mercury is required (24 million pounds were used in the U.S. between 1955 and 1963) and many opportunities for leaks into the environment exist. Cleanup remains extremely difficult and expensive.<sup id="cite_ref-berkeley.edu_7-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-berkeley.edu-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>In spite of the health and environmental concerns associated with processes based on mercury, some research is still being done on the COLEX separation along with cleaner lithium enrichment methods.<sup id="cite_ref-iaea.org1_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-iaea.org1-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="COLEX_separation_facilities_in_the_world">COLEX separation facilities in the world</h2></div>
<p>Nowadays, it seems that China is the only country in the world which officially employs the COLEX process to enrich lithium.<sup id="cite_ref-berkeley.edu_7-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-berkeley.edu-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Due to environmental concerns and relatively low demand for enriched lithium, further use of the COLEX process is officially banned in the USA since 1963, which strengthens China's nearly exclusive hold over the market of enriched lithium, followed by Russia.<sup id="cite_ref-berkeley.edu_7-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-berkeley.edu-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Russian enrichment capacities focus on lithium-7 production by <a href="Electrolysis" title="Electrolysis">electrolysis</a> of an aqueous <a href="Lithium_chloride" title="Lithium chloride">lithium chloride</a> solution using a mercury cathode, which is thus different from the COLEX process.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Although the US nuclear industry relies heavily on Chinese and Russian enriched lithium, ecological concerns over the COLEX process may impede its future domestic use at industrial scale.
</p><p>However, with the upswing in research in the general area of fusion reactor technology (ITER, DEMO) there has been renewed interest during the last decade in better processes for <sup>6</sup>Li-<sup>7</sup>Li separation, especially in Japan and the US.<sup id="cite_ref-iaea.org1_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-iaea.org1-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>North Korea is assessed to have procured the means to build a lithium-6 enrichment plant based on the COLEX separation.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>No industrial-scale facilities exist today that could meet the future requirements of commercial fusion power plants.<sup id="cite_ref-iaea.org_1-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-iaea.org-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">
/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */


.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}


/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */
</style><div class="div-col">
<ul><li><a href="Y-12_National_Security_Complex" title="Y-12 National Security Complex">Y-12 National Security Complex</a></li>
<li><a href="Thermonuclear_bomb" class="mw-redirect" title="Thermonuclear bomb">Thermonuclear bomb</a></li>
<li><a href="Fusion_power" title="Fusion power">Fusion power</a></li>
<li><a href="ITER" title="ITER">ITER</a></li>
<li><a href="Isotopes_of_lithium" title="Isotopes of lithium">Isotopes of lithium</a></li>
<li><a href="Mercury_cycle" title="Mercury cycle">Mercury cycle</a></li>
<li><a href="Mercury_(element)" title="Mercury (element)">Mercury (element)</a></li></ul>
</div>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">
/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */


.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}


/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */
</style><div class="reflist">
<div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references">
<li id="cite_note-iaea.org-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-iaea.org_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-iaea.org_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-iaea.org_1-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-iaea.org_1-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
/* start https://en.wikipedia.org/ */


.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("./mw/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("./mw/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("./mw/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("./mw/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}


/* end https://en.wikipedia.org/ */
</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170913183638/https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/fusionportal/Technical%20Meeting%20Proceedings/1st%20IAEA%20TM%20on%20Fusion%20Power%20Plant%20Safety/Presentations/Giegerich.pdf">"Lithium enrichment issues in the sustainable supply chain of future fusion reactors"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Nucleus.iaea.org</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/fusionportal/Technical%20Meeting%20Proceedings/1st%20IAEA%20TM%20on%20Fusion%20Power%20Plant%20Safety/Presentations/Giegerich.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 13 September 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 October</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170913185417/http://www.oakridgeheritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Bill-Wilcox-Y-12s_Second_Manhattan_Project.pdf">"THE LITHIUM 6 Super Bomb Story"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Oakridgeheritage.com</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.oakridgeheritage.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Bill-Wilcox-Y-12s_Second_Manhattan_Project.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 13 September 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 October</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-iaea.org1-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-iaea.org1_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-iaea.org1_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-iaea.org1_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.iaea.org/inis/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/19/035/19035202.pdf">"Lithium Isotope Separation A Review of Possible Techniques"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Iaea.org</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 October</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Holden, Norman E. (January–February 2010). "The Impact of Depleted 6Li on the Standard Atomic Weight of Lithium". International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Retrieved 6 May 2014.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Managing Critical Isotopes: Stewardship of Lithium-7 Is Needed to Ensure a Stable Supply, GAO-13-716 // U.S. Government Accountability Office, 19 September 2013; pdf</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2012/mar/02/isotope-separation-with-a-light-touch">"Isotope separation with a light touch"</a>. <i>Physicsworld.com</i>. 2012-03-02<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 October</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-berkeley.edu-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-berkeley.edu_7-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-berkeley.edu_7-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-berkeley.edu_7-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-berkeley.edu_7-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://fhr.nuc.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/12-005_NE-170_Lithium-Enrichment.pdf">"Lithium Isotope Enrichment: Feasible Domestic Enrichment Alternatives"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Fhr.nuc.berkeley.edu</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 October</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite id="CITEREFMartoyanKaluginGabrielyanMartoyan2016" class="citation journal cs1">Martoyan, G. A.; Kalugin, M. M.; Gabrielyan, A. V.; Martoyan, A. G. (2016). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1088%2F1757-899X%2F112%2F1%2F012035">"Prospects of lithium enrichment on 7 Li isotope by method of controlled ions electro-migration"</a>. <i>IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering</i>. <b>112</b>: 012035. <a href="Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1088%2F1757-899X%2F112%2F1%2F012035">10.1088/1757-899X/112/1/012035</a></span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/lithium.aspx">"Lithium - World Nuclear Association"</a>. <i>World-nuclear.org</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 October</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://isis-online.org/uploads/isis-reports/documents/North_Korea_Lithium_6_17Mar2017_Final.pdf">"North Korea's Lithium 6 Production for Nuclear Weapons"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Isis-online.org</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">3 October</span> 2017</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
</ol></div></div></div><!--htdig_noindex--><div><div class="zim-footer">
This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-07-13" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=COLEX_process&amp;oldid=1300300017">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.
</div>
</div><!--/htdig_noindex--></div>
</div>
</main>
</div>
</div>
</div>

</body></html>