SILEX is an acronym for Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation.

The SILEX process is a uranium enrichment technology developed in Australia by Silex Systems Limited, a publicly listed high technology innovation company founded in 1988.

The process was invented by Dr Michael Goldsworthy and Dr Horst Struve.

The SILEX process involves exposing a mixture of ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U isotopes to monochromatic laser light at a frequency that will induce ionisation in one isotope, but not the other. Passing the mixture through an electric field will then separate the isotopes into a product stream and a tailings stream.

In November 1996 Silex Systems Limited signed an exclusive licence and development agreement for the application of SILEX technology to uranium enrichment with the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC).

The company expected to conclude the second stage of testing in 2005 and begin building a pilot plant. The pilot plant will probably be built in the USA, giving effect to the 1996 agreement with USEC and avoiding any problems for Australia under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In 2004 Greenpeace produced a comprehensive report on the SILEX process titled Secrets, Lies and Uranium Enrichment.

In 2006, Silex Systems limited signed a development agreement with US company General Electric as the sole developer of the technology.

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Atomic physics