US-based Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) has announced it has received independent, third-party validation of its laser enrichment technology from a “leading Fortune 1000 technology provider in the national defence and global infrastructure markets”. The review “confirmed that GLE has achieved Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL-6) following completion of its enrichment demonstration programme and endorses GLE’s plans to proceed to detailed design with confidence”.
TRL-6 is the sixth of nine internationally recognised technology readiness levels used to assess the maturity of a technology. TRL-6 confirms large-scale system performance under relevant conditions (pilot-scale demonstration). TRL was developed at NASA during the 1970s. The US Department of Defense [now renamed Department of War] has used the scale for procurement since the early 2000s.
GLE is a joint venture of Australian company Silex Systems (51%) and Cameco Corporation (49%). It is the exclusive global licensee of the SILEX laser-based uranium enrichment technology developed by Silex Systems. The validating company’s identity was not publicly disclosed by GLE, Silex Systems, or Cameco. According to an AI search: “This is common for sensitive technology reviews in the defence and nuclear sectors.”
In September, GLE announced completion of a large-scale enrichment demonstration testing campaign at its Test Loop facility in Wilmington, North Carolina. GLE said it had collected extensive performance data providing confidence that its laser-based uranium enrichment process can be commercially deployed.
GLE began the large-scale demonstration testing of the SILEX (Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation) enrichment process in May and will continue its demonstration programme for the rest of the year. This will produce hundreds of kilograms of low enriched uranium (LEU), while continuing to build a domestic manufacturing base and supply chain to support deployment of US domestic enrichment capacity.
Earlier this year, GLE submitted an application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Kentucky, where it plans to deploy the technology commercially by re-enriching depleted uranium tails from legacy Department of Energy (DOE) gaseous diffusion plant operations.
The project is based on a 2016 long-term agreement for the sale to GLE of some 200,000 tonnes from DOE’s depleted uranium hexafluoride inventory, from which PLEF is expected to produce up to 6m SWU of LEU annually, delivering a domestic, single-site solution for uranium, conversion and enrichment.
GLE said its commercial deployment is backed by over $550m in engineering, design, manufacturing, and licensing investments to date across North Carolina and Kentucky. The PLEF in Kentucky is the only planned new enrichment facility currently under licence application review by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). According to GLE, based on current projections, PLEF could begin commercial operations around 2030, with potential for acceleration depending on regulatory approvals and construction timelines.
GLE CEO Stephen Long stated: “In plain language, this independent validation means that GLE has demonstrated large-scale, integrated system performance under relevant operational conditions and that our schedule for initial commercial deployment is achievable.” He said GLE will now turn its attention to full-scale detailed design and disciplined deployment of PLEF, which would be built from an entirely US supply chain.
He added that GLE’s laser enrichment “is uniquely positioned to meet the demands of future nuclear reactor technologies, including the very specific enrichment levels needed for advanced reactor designs and the special requirements imposed by recycled uranium fuels”.
GLE is one of six companies awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract under the DOE’s low-enriched uranium (LEU) programme. PLEF, if approved by NRC and commissioned, is expected to re-enrich over 200,000 tonnes of high-assay depleted uranium tails acquired from DOE and produce up to 6 million separative work units of LEU annually, delivering a domestic, single-site solution for uranium, conversion, and enrichment.
Silex CEO and Managing Director Michael Goldsworthy said achieving TRL-6 was a “major de-risking milestone” in the commercialisation of SILEX technology. “We are immensely proud of GLE, the only company in the world to have demonstrated large-scale, third generation laser-based enrichment technology at TRL-6 status,” he said.
