The Uranium hexafluoride reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Uranium hexafluoride

Uranium hexafluoride is a compound used in the uranium enrichment process. It forms solid grey crystals at STP, is highly toxic, reacts violently with water and is corrosive to most metals.

It is used in the uranium enrichment process because it has a triple point at 147 °C slightly higher than normal atmospheric pressure. This makes it very economical to process using the gaseous diffusion method. Isotopes of UF₆ differ in their molecular weight based solely on the uranium isotope present, as fluorine has only a single stable naturally occurring isotope. By subjecting UF₆ to repeated boiling and condensing, separation of U-235 from U-238 occurs by statistical enrichment. This process is very energy intensive.

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