What does UF4 stand for?

The contractor has completed roughly 35 percent of the design to date, he said Meanwhile, the Y-12 site's Oxide Conversion Facility has resumed operations after workers unclogged a process line used for converting uranium oxide into uranium tetrafluoride, a step in the enrichment process.

There are eight stages in the normal fuel chain: (1) mining; (2) concentration of the mined ore; (3) refining and conversion of the ore to uranium tetrafluoride; (4) conversion of the uranium tetrafluoride to uranium hexafluoride (a solid at room temperature; a gas when heated); (5) enrichment of the uranium hexafluoride; (6) fabrication of uranium hexafluoride into fuel rods and fuel assemblies; (7) installation of the fuel rods in a nuclear reactor; (8) management of the used fuel rods and other radioactive waste.