An extensive investigation of oxidation in uranium has been pursued. This includes the utilization of soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy, hard x-ray absorption near-edge structure, resonant (hard) x-ray emission spectroscopy, cluster calculations, and a branching ratio analysis founded on atomic theory. The samples utilized were uranium dioxide (UO2), uranium trioxide (UO3), and uranium tetrafluoride (UF4). A discussion of the role of nonspherical perturbations, i.e., crystal or ligand field effects, will be presented.