NRC to conduct environmental review of GLE’s enrichment facility

September 9, 2025, 6:36AMNuclear News
GLE’s PLEF would be sited next to the DOE’s Paducah plant, which stopped operating in 2013. (Photo: DOE)

As part of its environmental review of Global Laser Enrichment’s planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Kentucky, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced it will conduct a scoping process ahead of preparing an environmental impact statement for GLE’s license application. Announced in the September 5 Federal Register, the NRC is seeking written comments on the scope of the EIS until October 6.

GLE applied in June to the NRC for a license to construct and operate the PLEF. If approved, the license would allow the PLEF to reenrich depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) tails from legacy Department of Energy gaseous diffusion plant operations. Using laser enrichment technology licensed from Silex Systems, the facility will enrich DUF6 to a maximum of 8 percent uranium-235 by weight.

In November 2024, GLE acquired a 665-acre parcel of land adjacent to the DOE’s Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant for the PLEF. According to GLE, the site provides access to the yard where cylinders of DUF6 tails are stored.

The process: Prior to preparing an EIS that addresses the potential impacts of licensing the PLEF, the NRC is providing the public an opportunity to weigh in on the appropriate scope of the document.

According to the NRC, among other things, the comments will help the agency identify any significant environmental issues to be analyzed in depth, as well as those that should be eliminated from detailed study because they are peripheral or insignificant.

The NRC is encouraging members of the public and local, state, tribal, and federal government agencies to participate in the scoping process.

Comments can be submitted through the federal rulemaking website using a search for Docket ID NRC-2025-1007.

Following steps: After the scoping period, NRC staff will prepare a draft EIS, which will include the comments received as part of the scoping processes, along with the NRC’s responses to substantive comments.

The NRC will also have a public comment period for the draft EIS, once it is available. Availability of the draft EIS and the dates of the public comment period will be announced in a future Federal Register notice. The final EIS will include the NRC’s responses to public comments received on the draft EIS.


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