Yellowcake is chemically converted—first into uranium dioxide (UO3) or uranium tetrafluoride (UF₄), and then into uranium hexafluoride (UF₆). A solid at room temperature, UF₆ becomes gaseous above 130F making this chemical form essential for enrichment. Both wet (acid-based) and dry (fluoride volatility) chemical routes are employed to produce this high-purity gas.

The UF₆ gas is fed through advanced separation technologies—typically centrifuges or emerging laser systems—to increase the percentage of fissile U‑235 from ~0.7% to the 3–5% needed for traditional commercial reactors and up to 19.75% for many of the newly emerging commercial reactor technologies. The output product is enriched UF₆ (EUP) ; the leftover is depleted UF₆ (DUF₆).

Post-enrichment, the uranium hexafluoride (UF₆), both enriched and depleted, must be converted into other chemical forms for further processing. The deconversion processes—turning UF₆ into uranium oxide (UO₂ or U₃O₈), uranium tetrafluoride (UF4), or uranium metal —which recovers value, reduces chemical hazards, and prepares the material for fuel fabrication, other uses or disposal.

Traditionally, the enriched uranium oxide is pressed into fuel pellets, sintered into hard ceramic form, then encapsulated in corrosion‑resistant metal tubes (typically zirconium). These fuel rods are assembled into reactor-ready bundles—delivering the clean, reliable power that lights cities. Some of the new advanced reactors, like Xe-100 using TRISO or Natrium using metal, are manufactured in completely different ways unique to the requirements of that reactor design.