uranium hexafluoride

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a colorless, water-insoluble, crystalline, volatile solid, UF 6 , used in its gaseous state in separating uranium 235 from uranium.

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uranium hexafluoride British  

/ ˌhɛksəˈflʊəˌraɪd /

noun

1. a compound used in the process of uranium enrichment that produces fissile material for nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Formula: UF 6

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Etymology

Origin of uranium hexafluoride

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

uranium hexafluoride

Working with a partner, General Atomics, it is the only provider of uranium hexafluoride in the U.S.

From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025

AP also tracked millions of dollars worth of shipments of radioactive uranium hexafluoride from Russian state-owned Tenex JSC, the world’s largest exporter of initial nuclear fuel cycle products, to Westinghouse Electric Co. in South Carolina.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 24, 2022

Iran's stock of uranium hexafluoride, the feedstock for centrifuges, machines that enrich uranium, includes 33.2 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, the report seen by Reuters said, an increase of 15.5 kg.

From Reuters ● Mar. 3, 2022

Enriched uranium is produced by feeding uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges to separate out the most suitable isotope for nuclear fission, called U-235.

From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2021

They found Abelson laboring in a forest of one hundred towering cylindrical columns, in which uranium hexafluoride with a high concentration of U-235 was accumulating.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik