downblend

D2O1W4N1B3L1E1N1D2
US/ˈdaʊn.blɛnd/

verb

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.”

Opposite
enrich
Scrabble 16
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

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

present singular third person downblends · participle present downblending · participle past downblended · past downblended

  1. transitiveusuallynuclear physicsTo 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.

Synonyms & antonyms

Opposite
enrich

Origin

Blend of down + blend.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

downblend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downblend

MLA

“downblend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downblend. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “downblend,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downblend.

Source: downblend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.