Project is part of US plans to ramp up new sources of nuclear fuel
France-based Orano has completed a licence application for a new $5bn (€4.3bn) uranium enrichment facility in the US by submitting the technical portion of the application.
Project IKE is a large gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility planned for Oak Ridge, Tennessee. It will be built on a greenfield property owned by the US Department of Energy.
In February Orano submitted an environmental report to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for project IKE.
The technical portion of the application includes the integrated safety analysis, process safety information, and the analyses addressing criticality, chemical and fire safety, and security and safeguards information.
Orano said that for more than 40 years, it has supplied enriched uranium to the US nuclear reactor fleet from its facilities in France. It said that by bringing enrichment capabilities to the US, the certainty of delivery and significant output of enriched uranium from Project IKE would help establish a robust US nuclear fuel supply.
The facility will cover approximately 750,000 square feet (69,00 sq m), making it one of the largest in the US.
Project IKE development began in September 2024 with the state of Tennessee’s announcement that Orano had selected Oak Ridge as the preferred site for its facility.
Orano says it provides 12% of global uranium enrichment capacity through its Tricastin fuel enrichment site in France and is expanding that capacity by 30% to help meet global demand.
The company said that with the US ban on importing the formerly significant supply of Russian enriched uranium, the country needs to quickly ramp up new sources. The ban on Russian material goes fully into effect at the end of 2027.
