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Commercial uranium enrichment company Urenco USA on Oct. 2 said it had received approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to begin producing low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+).
Urenco will begin enriching uranium up to 10 percent U-235 at its Eunice, New Mexico, gas centrifuge plant. LEU+ is commonly used as a fuel source for the majority of the world’s nearly 500 commercial nuclear power reactors. Highly enriched uranium—concentrations enriched to or greater than 20 percent—are used to power naval propulsion reactors in nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, the Department of Defense said. It’s also what’s used in nuclear weapons.
Urenco said approval came after it implemented changes across its plant systems and operational procedures, as well as completion of a readiness review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Preparation for production required more than 100,000 hours of engineering and procedural work, along with more than 250 modifications to Urenco USA’s license basis and procedural documentation.
“Our dedicated employees have worked diligently to deliver this new capability for the benefit of our current and future customers and to support the long-term success of the U.S. nuclear industry,” said John Kirkpatrick, Urenco USA’s managing director.
“With LEU+ as an option for fueling America’s reactors, current nuclear plant operators can realize new gains in operations and efficiencies that will support even stronger performance by the country’s existing reactor fleet, and advanced reactor developers will have a reliable option to fuel their new designs.”
Enriching uranium is a highly specialized and capital-intensive process, according to the World Nuclear Association. Currently, there are three primary providers: Urenco USA; Orano of southern France; and Rosatom, a state-sponsored company with multiple uranium enrichment plants throughout Russia. Urenco USA is the only domestic commercial producer of enriched uranium.
Increasing domestic supply of LEU+ allows U.S. nuclear facilities to operate longer and experience fewer fuel outages, which cuts down on operating and maintenance costs, Urenco USA said. Future nuclear power plants will also be able to use domestically produced LEU+ as a fuel source when they come online, the company said.
Urenco has been expanding its capacity to produce LEU+ throughout the year.
Capacity increases stem in part from President Donald Trump’s May executive order titled “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base.” The United States is heavily dependent on other countries to supply fuel for its commercial reactor fleet and must build out and expand production capacity to ensure domestic supply chains of LEU+, highly enriched uranium, and high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), the order stated.
LEU+ is a crucial feedstock for an eventual U.S.-based enrichment facility that could produce HALEU, which would be used in future deployments of advanced nuclear technologies.
Urenco USA has been enriching uranium since 2010. It currently can meet about one-third of domestic demand for LEU+, the company said. Its current enrichment expansion efforts will enhance overall production capacity of LEU and LEU+ by 15 percent by mid-2027, Urenco said.
