JNFL paused operations at Rokkasho in 2017 in response to a global decline in uranium markets but resumed production in 2023 and now is set to expand—reaching 450,000 separative work units (SWUs) per year by 2028. Other nations and companies are also adding enrichment capacity—including the U.S. and the Netherlands, where Urenco announced plans earlier this month to “double the expansion” planned at its Almelo site.
From Canada to Japan: JNFL announced October 10 that it had completed the formal acceptance of a shipment of UF₆ at its uranium enrichment plant in Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture—the first such delivery since 2014. The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum celebrated the news on October 14.
The shipment of 50 cylinders containing “up to 625 tons of uranium” was dispatched by Canada’s Cameco Corp. to Japan’s Mutsu-Ogawara Port in Rokkasho. There, on October 7, the first UF₆ cylinders were unloaded by crane from a transport vessel onto trailers for transport by road to the enrichment plant.
About Rokkasho: Enrichment operations began at Rokkasho in 1992. The facility accepted a total of 1,299 cylinders of UF6 in 41 separate shipments between 1991 and 2014, according to JNFL. Enrichment was suspended in September 2017 and resumed in August 2023, and the plant now has a production capacity of 112,500 SWUs per year.
In June, JNFL announced that Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority had approved its design and construction plans to expand Rokkasho’s approved capacity limit from 150,000 to 450,000 SWUs per year. The site also hosts a reprocessing facility for MOX fuel fabrication.
Work underway now to support the expansion includes equipment upgrades at the facility’s No. 2 cascade facility and modernization of systems such as UF₆ handling, high-frequency power supplies, radiation monitoring, and emergency response facilities, according to JAIF.
And in Europe: Urenco announced a first stage of expansion at Almelo in December 2023, representing about 750,000 SWUs. With that expansion still set to come on line in 2027, an announcement earlier this month adds a second stage of expansion—including an additional centrifuge hall and another 750,000 SWUs, expected to come on line from 2030. In total, the two expansions represent approximately 1.5 million SWUs of extra capacity at Almelo. Urenco has now pledged 2.5 million SWUs of new enrichment capacity around the world.
Separately, Urenco announced October 13 that it has signed a six-year agreement to provide enriched uranium services for the U.K.’s planned 3.2-GW Sizewell C, with that service coming mainly from the company’s Capenhurst site. The fuel would be fabricated by Framatome, which plans to build a manufacturing facility in the U.K.
