downblend
English
Etymology
Blend of down + blend
Verb
downblend (third-person singular simple present downblends, present participle downblending, simple past and past participle downblended)
- (usually transitive, nuclear physics) To blend highly-enriched uranium, typically from decommissioned nuclear weapons, with uranium containing a low concentration of fissile uranium-235 (slightly-enriched uranium, natural uranium, or depleted uranium) in order to convert it to low-enriched uranium suitable for use as fuel in standard power reactors but not usable for a fission bomb.
- The facility has the capacity to downblend 5 tonnes of bomb-grade uranium per year.
Antonyms
- enrich