US-based Westinghouse Electric Company and European enrichment company Urenco have signed a first agreement for long-term fuel enrichment. Urenco has agreed to provide enrichment of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) to Westinghouse for five years of deployment for the company’s eVinci microreactor.
The eVinci microreactor design is a heatpipe-cooled transportable reactor that will be fully factory built, fuelled and assembled, and capable of delivering combined heat (up to 13 MWt) and power (up to 5 MWe). Its small size allows for standard transportation methods and rapid, on-site deployment, with superior reliability and minimal maintenance. It will use TRISO (TRI-structural ISOtropic) HALEU fuel. It is one of several advanced reactor designs being supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) intended to accelerate the development and deployment of new reactor technologies.
“This is a key step in building our capabilities to supply advanced nuclear fuels,” said Tarik Choho, President of Nuclear Fuel at Westinghouse. “Urenco is a valued supplier of enriched uranium. They will play an important role in providing nuclear fuel for our eVinci microreactor, which is a safe, simple and economical clean-energy solution for a range of industries like remote mining, data centres, and off-grid communities.”
Urenco Chief Commercial Officer Laurent Odeh said: “Urenco is committed to powering the nuclear reactors of today and tomorrow with enriched uranium,” said. “We are proud to sign this agreement-in-principle with our partner Westinghouse to enable their eVinci microreactor, which will make clean and reliable energy available 24/7 – anywhere.”
High-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) – uranium enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium-235 – will be used in the advanced nuclear fuel required for most of the next-generation reactor designs currently under development. At present, only Russia and China have the infrastructure to produce HALEU at scale.
In 2023, Urenco was awarded £9.5m ($12.4m) by the UK government from its £50m Nuclear Fuel Fund to help develop low enriched uranium and HALEU enrichment capability at its Capenhurst site in Cheshire, England.
