Urenco has installed the first new centrifuges of a US expansion project in the centrifuge hall at the company’s enrichment site in Eunice, New Mexico. Federal, State and local officials, Urenco leadership, representatives of the more than 500 Urenco USA employees and contractors, and members of the community attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The project will provide an approximately 15% increase in enrichment capacity at the site, providing an additional 700,000 SWU (separative work units) a year. Urenco USA is on schedule to begin producing enriched uranium from newly installed centrifuges in 2025.
“This facility has successfully operated for more than a decade and the expansion is further proof of the domestic supply it consistently delivers,” said Urenco CEO, Boris Schucht. “This is only the latest step. We are intending to further expand our capacity in the US, subject to market needs, as the strong momentum in the nuclear industry continues. This will not only mean an even stronger US nuclear fuel supply chain, but more jobs, skills, and development so we can continue to attract and retain the next generation of operators, engineers and scientists for the future of this industry.”
Urenco’s Eunice site is the only commercial enrichment facility in the US. In 2023, its annual production was 4.4m SWU. The site has the physical space and licence to further expand annual production to 10m SWU. The site’s expansion project, scheduled for completion in 2027, is the first to be delivered under Urenco’s capacity expansion programme, and aims to strengthen the nuclear fuel supply chain both in the US and globally.
In total, under Urenco’s current expansion, 1.8m SWU will be delivered across three projects, including two others at Urenco’s sites in Germany and the Netherlands. UK-headquartered Urenco said it is committed to continued investment in the responsible management of nuclear materials; innovation activities with clear sustainability benefits, such as nuclear medicine, industrial efficiency and research; and nurturing the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Urenco has also signed an advanced fuels contract with France-based Jimmy Energy to supply low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+, enriched up to 10%) for its high-temperature gas cooled (HTGR) micro reactor design. Jimmy’s design is a 20 MWt reactor and it has applied to construct its first project for its first industrial customer in the Marne area of France. Jimmy Co-founder & CEO Antoine Guyot said: “Securing the services of a company recognized worldwide for its expertise and the quality of its services, like Urenco, is an important step for Jimmy, and a major signal of the interest in our design.”
Jimmy plans to use TRISO (TRI-structural ISOtropic) fuel for its reactor design, and the company will utilise Urenco’s supply of LEU+ with a view to changing to high-assay, low enriched uranium (HALEU) once it is available. The first delivery of LEU+ is to be made in 2026 from Urenco’s USA site in Eunice, New Mexico.
Urenco is building a HALEU plant at its UK site in Capenhurst, following co-investment from the UK Government. It will provide HALEU by the early 2030s to customers, and Urenco is continuing to participate in the US Department of Energy’s HALEU request for proposal process to provide a domestic supply in the USA.
