The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy has begun an ambitious new initiative to secure the nation’s nuclear fuel supply chain.

The DOE said the federal government will work with the domestic nuclear industry to ensure that the US continues to have enough nuclear fuel to power the current nuclear reactor fleet as well as future advanced reactors.

The initiative has been launched through the Defense Production Act (DPA) Nuclear Fuel Cycle Consortium. The consortium, which consists of representatives from more than 90 companies spanning the nuclear industrial base, will address all facets of the nuclear fuel supply chain including milling, conversion, enrichment, deconversion, fabrication, recycling and reprocessing.