Urenco USA has received authorisation from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to enrich uranium up to 10% U-235, known as low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+). NRC’s authorisation came after Urenco USA implemented changes in its plant systems and procedures and completed an operational readiness review. Initial production of LEU+ will take place this year, with the first product deliveries to a fuel fabricator planned for 2026.
Urenco USA received licence amendments from NRC in December 2024 and August 2025. In future, all of the plant’s existing and future cascades will be licensed to produce both LEU (enriched up to 5%) and LEU+. Preparing for LEU+ production required over 100,000 hours of work, with significant emphasis on engineering, the development of new procedures, and the implementation of more than 30 new IROFS (Items Relied on for Safety). This process also involved more than 250 modifications to license basis and programme documents.
Urenco said LEU+ will create new opportunities for the current US reactor fleet by allowing for longer operating cycles with fewer refuelling outages, reducing operations and maintenance costs. Many advanced reactor technologies currently planned for deployment will also be able to use LEU+ as fuel.
LEU+ can also serve as an important feedstock for a future US enrichment facility designed to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and will increase the amount of HALEU that facility can produce, supporting the eventual deployment of advanced reactor designs.
“Our dedicated employees have worked diligently to deliver this new capability for the benefit of our current and future customers and to support the long-term success of the US nuclear industry,” said John Kirkpatrick, Managing Director of Urenco USA. “With LEU+ as an option for fuelling America’s reactors, current nuclear plant operators can realise new gains in operations and efficiencies that will support even stronger performance by the country’s existing reactor fleet, and advanced reactor developers will have a reliable option to fuel their new designs.”
Urenco USA, the only commercial producer of enriched uranium in the US, operates the National Enrichment Facility in Eunice, New Mexico that began operations in 2010 and has the capacity to meet approximately one-third of the enrichment needs of US commercial NPPs. To strengthen the US nuclear fuel supply chain and support a transition away from a reliance on enriched uranium from Russia, the company is expanding its production capacity 15% by mid-2027. Already this year, two new centrifuge cascades have been brought online ahead of schedule and on budget.
