Uranium carbide fuel was used in late designs of nuclear thermal rockets.

Uranium carbide pellets are used as fuel kernels for the US version of pebble bed reactors; the German version uses uranium dioxide instead.

The mixture is also labeled as uranium-plutonium carbide ( (U,Pu)C ).

Uranium carbide is also a popular target material for particle accelerators.

[citation needed] Ammonia synthesis from nitrogen and hydrogen is sometimes accomplished in the presence of uranium carbide acting as a catalyst.