Project to help ‘fill gap’ left by a 2028 ban on Russian uranium imports
French nuclear fuel company Orano has submitted an environmental report to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for its project IKE, a gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility planned for Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
The company said the move marks a major licensing milestone for the $5bn (€4.24bn) project.
The submission, which Orano said followed more than a year of environmental analysis, technical evaluation, and interagency coordination, advances the project to the next phase of NRC review.
A complete facility licence application is expected later this year, according to the company.
The report assesses potential environmental impacts across a range of areas including land use, air quality, water quality, public and occupational health, and socioeconomics.
Orano said it has supplied enriched uranium to the US. reactor fleet from its French facilities for four decades. Project IKE would bring proven enrichment capabilities to US soil, strengthening domestic nuclear fuel supply chains and enhancing national energy security, a statement said.
The project takes its name from President Dwight D. Eisenhower's landmark 1953 "Atoms for Peace" address to the United Nations.
Site selection was announced by the State of Tennessee in September 2024, when Oak Ridge was confirmed as Orano's preferred location.
In June 2025, Orano opened a 40-person office in Oak Ridge, located less than 10 miles from the selected project IKE site near the Oak Ridge Horizon Centre Industrial Park.
Last month, Orano was selected by the US Department of Energy to receive $900m in funding for the project IKE facility, which is expected to meet US reactor needs after the import of Russian uranium will be banned in 2028.
