Urenco touts first cylinder of LEU+ for commercial use

Urenco USA has produced its first cylinder of uranium hexafluoride enriched to levels of uranium-235 between 5 and 10 percent, or LEU+.

The company said that this is the first instance of commercial LEU+ production in "the Western world." In May of this year, Urenco's Capenhurst plant in the United Kingdom produced samples of LEU+ enriched to 7 percent U-235 in a trial run. Russia and China have explored the use of nuclear fuel enriched above 5 percent U-235 as well, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A Urenco USA spokesperson told Nuclear News that the company plans to ship this cylinder along with others in its first customer order in late spring 2027.

More enrichment: Urenco began enriching uranium at its facility in Eunice, N.M., in 2010. In September 2025, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted Urenco approval to begin enriching uranium up to 10 percent U-235 at the plant. (The company has not disclosed the enrichment level of the LEU+ produced to date.) The production of its first cylinder of LEU+ coincides with an expansion in the plant's capacity; in October, the company announced that the sixth of eight planned new cascades had come on line.

While Urenco pursues the expansion of its National Enrichment Facility, several other companies are in the process of launching their own U.S. enrichment facilities, also with an eye toward producing uranium enriched above 5 percent:

• Orano's Project Ike enrichment facility near Oak Ridge, Tenn., would use gas centrifuge technology to produce LEU and LEU+ enriched up to 10 percent U-235. The NRC is currently reviewing Orano's license application for the facility.
• Centrus Energy Corp. is expanding its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, to produce LEU as well as high-assay low-enriched uranium, which is uranium enriched up to 19.75 percent U-235. Centrus plans for its new centrifuge cascades to begin operating in 2029.
• Global Laser Enrichment's planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility in Paducah, Ky., would use laser enrichment technology to produce natural uranium from depleted uranium tails, LEU, and LEU+ enriched up to 8 percent U-235. GLE expects the NRC to issue a license for the facility in 2027.
• General Matter, GLE's neighbor at the Paducah site, plans for its General Matter Paducah Enrichment Facility to produce both LEU and HALEU using an as-yet-unspecified enrichment technology. The NRC accepted its license application for review on October 29.
• LIS Technologies, another laser enrichment firm, plans to build an enrichment facility capable of producing LEU and LEU+ enriched up to 10 percent U-235 at Oak Ridge. It submitted its letter of intent to apply for an NRC license in March of this year and plans for operations to begin in 2030.
• Nusano, a Utah-based company, had its process for producing HALEU without the use of fluoridated gas selected for support from the Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative in August. Nusano expects to begin enrichment using this process in 2031.

Urenco said that not only does LEU+ have the potential to extend operational times between refueling for conventional light water reactors, it also can be used to fuel certain advanced reactor designs and can serve as a feedstock for the production of HALEU.

LEU+ fabrication: Enrichment is, of course, only one stage in the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle. Once enrichment is complete, fuel fabrication can follow.

The United States groups its fuel facilities into three categories. Category III facilities are allowed to process LEU enriched to less than 10 percent U-235. Three such facilities currently produce nuclear fuel for commercial use in the country:

Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas: In February 2024, GNF-A, a subsidiary of GE Vernova, became the first U.S. fuel fabricator to receive NRC authorization to produce LEU+ fuel for commercial use. Its plant in Wilmington, N.C., can produce fuel containing up to 8 percent U-235.

Framatome: In May 2026, the NRC approved a license amendment to allow Framatome to produce fuel enriched above 5 percent U-235 at its Richland, Wash., facility. The company plans to begin LEU+ fuel fabrication in 2027.

Westinghouse: Westinghouse intends to apply for an amendment to its NRC license that would allow it to fabricate fuel enriched to up to 8 percent U-235 at its Hopkins, S.C., location. The company has been engaged in the NRC's preapplication process since 2024.