Um, this is pure stupidity. (files.catbox.moe) Mass spectrometers have nothing to do with separating U235 from U238. The Manhattan Project used electromagnetic separation and gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium (osti.gov).
The link for the Y-12 racetrack design (osti.gov) essentially looks like the same principle that the modern mass spectrometer uses. A magnetic field perpendicular to the direction of initial velocity induces a parabolic trajectory and the curves will differ depending on mass. Instead of colliding with a detector of some kind they are collected in a receptacle. Their image. (osti.gov)
But I agree, it does seem like a bit of an oversight to conflate the two processes even though they are very similar. Modern mass spectrometers are usually only used for analytical purposes and not for purification protocols.
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