downblend

English

Etymology

Blend of down +‎ blend

Pronunciation
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdaʊn.blɛnd/
  • Audio (US)(file)

Verb

downblend (third-person singular simple present downblends, present participle downblending, simple past and past participle downblended)

  1. (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
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