uranium 235

noun

Chemistry.

1. the radioactive uranium isotope having a mass number of 235, comprising 0.715 percent of natural uranium. When bombarded with neutrons it undergoes fission with the release of energy.

Word History and Origins

Origin of uranium 235¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

Most nuclear reactors use uranium 235 as fuel.

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The more uranium 235 your nuclear fuel has, the smaller you can make your reactor—or your bomb, which is why the material is subject to such strict regulations.

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The Iranian images of the plant released last year show the assembly of the centrifuges — tall, thin machines that enrich, or concentrate, uranium’s rare component, uranium 235.

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The deal allows research, which now has improved their breakout time down to a day or two, by means of rapid centrifuge enrichment of uranium 235.

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By December 6, the spectrographers had accumulated their first measurable, if invisible, quantity of uranium 235—far from pure but at more than triple the concentration found in nature.

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