enrichissement

Enrichissement is a French noun that denotes the act of making something richer, more valuable, or more complete. The term is used across disciplines to describe processes that increase concentration, content, quality, or usefulness.

In nuclear science, enrichment refers to increasing the proportion of fissile isotopes, notably uranium-235, relative to uranium-238 in a material. This change can enable certain reactor or weapon applications and is subject to strict international safeguards, treaties, and export controls.

In information management and data science, data enrichment adds external information to existing records to improve accuracy, relevance, or usefulness. Examples include appending demographic data to customer profiles to enhance analytics and targeting.

In agriculture and nutrition, enrichment covers soil amendment and food fortification. Soil enrichment involves adding nutrients to soil to improve crop yields and health, while fortification improves the nutritional content of foods by adding vitamins or minerals to address deficiencies.

Cultural and educational enrichment refers to activities that broaden knowledge, skills, and experiences, such as access to libraries, museums, language courses, and cultural exchanges. These forms aim to raise individual capabilities and contribute to social well-being.

Because some forms of enrichment have safety, security, or ethical implications, governance and standards regulate their use. Nuclear enrichment, in particular, is tightly controlled, while data and nutrition enrichment are subject to quality and safety considerations to protect public interests.