Urenco USA has achieved two new milestones – the company’s first production of enriched uranium above 5% U-235 and the startup of its next cascade of centrifuges as part of an ongoing capacity installation programme.
In December 2025, the company completed its initial production run of uranium enriched to 8.5% U-235. This is the first time a commercial uranium enrichment facility in the United States has produced this level of enrichment and demonstrates the company’s ability to produce low enriched uranium plus (LEU+), which is uranium enriched to between 5% and 10% U-235. Urenco USA plans to begin production of commercial quantities of LEU+ for its customers in mid-2026.
In September, Urenco USA received authorisation from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enrich uranium up to 10% U-235. All the plant’s cascades are licensed to produce LEU+, providing a flexible resource for meeting customers’ fuel requirements.
Urenco USA has also worked to add new centrifuge cascades this year as part of a programme to install 700,000 separative work units (SWU) of capacity between 2025-2027 at its New Mexico uranium enrichment plant. The third new cascade began production of low enriched uranium (LEU) in December. Each of the three new cascades installed in 2025 started operating ahead of schedule, supporting US government efforts to eliminate reliance on enriched uranium imported from Russia. Urenco USA is the only company to have licensed, built, operated, and expanded a commercial uranium enrichment plant in the United States.
“In 2025, we have delivered on our plans to launch a new advanced fuels capability and to install new production capacity, demonstrating Urenco USA’s commitment to supporting the future needs of our customers and the U.S. nuclear industry as the country increasingly relies on nuclear energy,” said John Kirkpatrick, Managing Director of Urenco USA. “Our employees’ efforts this year will ensure that the United States continues to have a reliable domestic supplier of enriched uranium for our current reactor fleet and for the advanced reactors preparing for deployment in the coming years.”
The availability of LEU+ supports several advancements for the nuclear industry. It will support longer operating cycles for the current fleet of light-water reactors, which will reduce their operating and maintenance costs, and supports the deployment of new accident-tolerant fuel designs. Many advanced reactor designs will be able to utilise LEU+ for fuel, speeding their deployment timelines and providing them a domestic source of enrichment.
LEU+ can also serve as feedstock for producing high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is uranium enriched to between 10-20% U-235, increasing the potential output of future HALEU enrichment facilities.
As America’s only commercial-scale producer of enriched uranium, Urenco USA operates the National Enrichment Facility, a strategic part of America’s energy infrastructure and nuclear fuel supply chain that began operations in 2010 and has the capacity to meet approximately one-third of the enrichment needs of US commercial nuclear power plants. The facility represents a commercial investment of private capital in US manufacturing totaling more than $5bn to date and employs more than 500 US employees and long-term contractors.
