The US Department of Energy (DOE) said it has taken a major step in strengthening domestic nuclear fuel cycle supply chains by establishing a consortium that will reduce the country’s reliance on foreign sources of enriched uranium and critical materials needed to power the nuclear renaissance.

The DOE said it is establishing the Defense Production Act (DPA) Consortium and will seek voluntary agreements with US companies.

Under the consortium, voluntary agreements will allow industry consultation to develop plans of action to ensure that the nuclear fuel supply chain capacity for mining and milling, conversion, enrichment, deconversion, fabrication, recycling and reprocessing is available to enable the continued reliable operation of the nation’s reactors.