highly enriched uranium en · NOUN
Meanings
- (qualifier:nuclear physics, uncountable) Enriched uranium containing at least 20% uranium-235 (some applications, such as fission weapons and naval reactors, use uranium enriched to as high as 80-95% uranium-235), and therefore capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction without needing a moderator; used in nuclear weapons and in a few types of nuclear reactors requiring very high power density or high neutron flux.
Coordinates
natural uranium · depleted uranium · DU · SEU · low-enriched uranium · slightly enriched uranium · LEU · NU
Hypernyms
mul:U · enriched uranium · uranium