Urenco USA marks enrichment milestones

Enriched uranium: UUSA finished its initial production run of uranium enriched to 8.5 percent U-235 on December 11. The company said that this achievement demonstrates its ability to produce low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+), which is uranium enriched to a level between 5 and 10 percent U-235. This was also the first time that any U.S. commercial uranium enrichment facility has produced that level of enrichment, according to the company.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in September granted UUSA authorization to enrich uranium up to 10 percent U-235. The company anticipates that its production of commercial quantities of LEU+ will begin by mid-2026.

LEU+ advantages: The availability of LEU+ is expected to support longer operating cycles for the existing fleet of light water nuclear reactors, which could lead to savings in operating and maintenance costs for those reactors. LEU+ on the market may also enable the accelerated deployment in the United States of new accident tolerant fuel designs for advanced reactors because of the domestic source of uranium enrichment.

UUSA added that LEU+ can also serve as feedstock for producing high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is uranium that has been enriched to between 10 and 20 percent U-235.

New cascade: UUSA’s third new centrifuge cascade began production of LEU on December 16 at the company’s National Enrichment Facility in New Mexico. The company’s goal is to install 700,000 separative work units (SWU) of capacity by 2027. SWU are units used to measure the amount of separation done by a uranium enrichment process; this is a function of the concentrations of the feedstock, the enriched output, and the depleted tailings.

According to UUSA, each of the three new cascades that were installed in 2025 began operation ahead of schedule, demonstrating the company’s “ability to add new enrichment capacity to meet the growing demands of the U.S. market . . . supporting the U.S. government’s efforts to eliminate the country’s reliance on enriched uranium imported from Russia.”

Delivering on plans: John Kirkpatrick, managing director of UUSA, commented on the two December milestones: “In 2025, we have delivered on our plans to launch a new advanced fuels capability and to install new production capacity, demonstrating Urenco USA’s commitment to supporting the future needs of our customers and the U.S. nuclear industry as the country increasingly relies on nuclear energy.”