text: The first uses of ferrouranium date back to 1897, when the French government attempted to use it for guns. Ferrouranium is used as a deoxidizer (more powerful than ferrovanadium), for denitrogenizing steel, for forming carbides, and as an alloying element. In ferrous alloys, uranium increases the elastic limit and the tensile strength. In high speed steels, it has been used to increase toughness and strength in amounts between 0.05 and 5%. Uranium-alloyed steels can be used at very low temperatures; nickel-uranium alloys are resistant to even very aggressive chemicals, including aqua regia.