nuclear fuel

American  

[noo-klee-er fyoo-uhl, nyoo-] / ˈnu kli ər ˈfyu əl, ˈnyu- /

noun

1. Physics. fissile or fertile material that undergoes fission in a nuclear reactor.

2. any light element, as hydrogen or helium, that undergoes fusion and gives off energy within the interior of stars.

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nuclear fuel British  

noun

1. a fuel that provides nuclear energy, used in nuclear power stations, nuclear submarines, etc

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Pronunciation

See nuclear ( def. ).

Etymology

Origin of nuclear fuel

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

Ahead of the meeting, Kyiv officials said a Russian drone had hit a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel near the Chornobyl nuclear plant in the north of Ukraine.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026

The Russian strike on Chornobyl "partially destroyed" a spent nuclear fuel storage building, according to Ukraine's state-owned nuclear operator, Enerhoatom.

From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026

Reporting its earnings this week, BWX Technologies talked about plans to sell nuclear fuel and components for various reactor designs.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026

Tuesday morning, the maker of refrigerants and uranium hexafluoride, an intermediate product for nuclear fuel, reported External link first-quarter earnings per share of 63 cents from sales of $991 million.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

The number of black holes, however, is almost certainly very much higher; in the long history of the universe, many stars must have burned all their nuclear fuel and have had to collapse.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking