 234U is converted to 235U more easily and therefore at a greater rate than 238U is to 239Pu (via neptunium-239) because 238U has a much smaller neutron-capture cross section of just 2.7 barns.In the reaction 234U + n → 235U reaction, the 234U content of 4.5% enriched fuel drops steadily over the irradiation period falling from 450g/ton HM to 205g/ton HM in fuel with an irradiation of 60GWd/ton HM.Additionally, (n, 2n) reactions with fast neutrons also convert small amounts of 235U to 234U.