Washington boosts efforts to produce fuel for new generation of nuclear reactors
The US has announced initial contracts to four companies hoping to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium, or Haleu, for an expected new generation of high-tech nuclear power reactors, the US Department of Energy (DOE) said on Thursday (17 October).
Russia is currently the only country that makes Haleu in commercial volumes. Funds to make the fuel domestically in the US were included in a May 2024 law to ban uranium shipments from Russia by 2028.
The four companies awarded contracts are US-based Centrus Energy subsidiary American Centrifuge Operating; Urenco USA, which is a British, Dutch, German company with operations in New Mexico; Orano USA, based in Maryland with global headquarters in France; and a company called General Matter.
“All contracts will last for up to 10 years and each awardee receives a minimum contract of $2 million [€1.8m], with up to $2.7 billion available for these services, subject to the availability of appropriations,” the DOE said.
Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said the announcement represents the Biden-Harris administration’s latest efforts to build a secure domestic Haleu supply chain, which is essential to bringing advanced nuclear reactors online and meeting the growing demand for clean, reliable electricity.
Haleu is uranium enriched between 5 and 20%, which increases the amount of fissile material to make the fuel more efficient relative to lower-enriched forms of uranium.
Many advanced reactors – likely to be deployed from the 2030s onwards – will use Haleu to achieve smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and increased efficiencies over current technologies.
Under the DOE contracts, the four companies will bid on future work to produce and store Haleu in the form of uranium hexafluoride gas to eventually be made into fuel for advanced reactors.
Centrus president and chief executive officer Amir Vexler said the award could facilitate the potential expansion of Centrus’ first-of-a-kind Haleu production capacity in Piketon, Ohio, to help meet the needs of the advanced nuclear industry and the nation.
“It represents a critical piece of the public-private partnership we are working to build so that we can restore a robust, American-owned uranium enrichment capability to power the future of nuclear energy.”
Advanced Reactors ‘Key To Clean Energy Future’
The DOE said advanced nuclear reactors are key to the US’s clean energy future and meeting ambitious clean energy and climate goals.
“The United States currently lacks commercial Haleu enrichment capabilities to support the deployment of advanced reactors,” it noted.
“These contracts support the buildout of a robust Haleu supply chain in the United States and complement last week’s announcement of contracts to support Haleu deconversion services.”
That announcement was of six companies chosen as awardees under an $800m DOE contract to provide Haleu deconversion services for advanced nuclear power reactors.
The six companies were BWXT, Centrus, Framatome, GE Vernova, Orano and Westinghouse.
President Joe Biden’s administration believes nuclear power, which generates virtually emissions-free electricity, is critical in fighting climate change, ensuring energy security and to meet rising power demand from the growing number of data centres and other consumers. Smaller reactors can be used for power generation, but also for district heating, and industrial applications such as oil refining, desalination, and steel production.
