highly-enriched uranium
English
Some highly-enriched uranium. The higher the enrichment and the bigger the mass of uranium, the greater the risk of a criticality accident.
Noun
highly-enriched uranium (uncountable)
- (nuclear physics, military) 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.
Synonyms
- HEU
- weapons-grade uranium
Coordinate terms
- depleted uranium
- natural uranium
- slightly-enriched uranium
- low-enriched uranium
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