What are the two commercial methods of uranium enrichment discussed?

The two commercial methods of uranium enrichment that are most commonly recognized and utilized in the nuclear industry are gas centrifuges and laser isotope separation.

Gas centrifuges operate on the principle of using rotational motion to separate isotopes of uranium based on their mass differences. When uranium hexafluoride gas is spun at high speeds in a centrifuge, the heavier isotopes, such as U-238, tend to move outward more than the lighter isotopes, such as U-235. This separation process is efficient, capable of achieving high levels of enrichment, and is the predominant method used in many modern enrichment facilities.

Laser isotope separation techniques, particularly Laser Enrichment or Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS), leverage lasers to selectively excite and ionize specific isotopes of uranium. By using precisely tuned laser frequencies, the method can target U-235 for separation from U-238, leading to an enriched product. This method is advantageous because it can achieve high enrichment levels with lower energy expenditure compared to some mechanical methods.

Other methods of uranium enrichment exist but are not as widely used on a commercial scale. For example, while gas diffusion was historically significant, it has largely been supplanted by gas centrifuges due to the latter's greater