Domestic supply: UUSA is currently the only commercial producer of enriched uranium operating in the United States, with the capacity to meet about one-third of the enrichment needs of U.S. nuclear power plants. In addition to the expansion plan now under way, the company “is evaluating potential additional expansion subject to market demand and underpinned by contracts.”
“Our experienced team of employees at Urenco USA continues to deliver on our plans for expanding America’s uranium enrichment capacity to support our utility customers with a long-term and reliable domestic supply of enriched uranium,” said John Kirkpatrick, the company’s managing director.
Permission granted: In October 2024, Urenco announced the installation of new centrifuges under its expansion plan. It wasn’t until May 9 that Paul Lorskulsint, UUSA’s head of compliance and chief nuclear officer, submitted a commercial-grade dedication form to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and requested authorization to begin operating the new cascade, Cascade 6.5. He did so after the company carried out a required surveillance procedure to confirm the cascade met safety requirements.
In a letter dated May 14, the NRC authorized UUSA to introduce uranium hexafluoride into the cascade.
Past and present: Urenco Global was founded in 1970 by the governments of Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Urenco’s global head office is located near London, and the company has enrichment facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.K.
Urenco formed Louisiana Energy Services to expand its production to the United States and submitted a license application in 2003 for the Eunice, N.M., site. The first centrifuge was installed in 2009, and full production began in 2010. By 2016, UUSA’s phased construction program was complete. The company currently has 64 cascades on line and produces about 5 million SWU per year.
Future: UUSA announced in December 2024 that it had approval from the NRC to boost enrichment levels to 10 percent fissile uranium-235 (up from its current limit of 5.5 percent). However, putting that plan into action requires the NRC to approve UUSA’s implementation of its license amendment requirements. While the NRC originally planned to complete its review by the end of May 2025, it now expects to be done by the end of July. The NRC attributed the delay to “staff resource issues” in a May 8 letter.
The Department of Energy named UUSA in December 2024 one of six companies that are potential recipients of future DOE task orders for the production of low-enriched uranium. In October 2024, UUSA and three other companies were identified for potential task orders for the production of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU; with enrichments up to 19.75 percent U-235).
