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

• enrich