Texas-based Fermi America, co-founded by former US Energy Secretary and Texas Governor Rick Perry, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with ASP Isotopes and its subsidiary Quantum Leap Energy (QLE) to explore development of a high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) enrichment facility. Fermi America is developing a 11 GWe private grid campus for next-generation hyperscale AI in collaboration with the Texas Tech University System (TTU).
The non-binding MOU envisages QLE and Fermi America entering into definitive agreements to form a new entity in Texas as a joint venture for the research and development, and then the construction, of an advanced nuclear fuel enrichment facility capable of producing large quantities of HALEU for small modular reactors (SMRs). It is anticipated that facility will provide for the conversion and deconversion of uranium products, as well as the fabrication of fuel assemblies. Fermi America is expected to be responsible for obtaining all licences, permits, governmental and regulatory approvals, and other required consents for the HALEU project.
The property leased by Fermi America from the from TTU for the HyperGrid Campus is strategically located near the DOE-operated Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, offering unique proximity to a federally hardened and environmentally characterised site. The site is pre-qualified for nuclear deployment under DOE and NRC precedent studies and is governed by sovereign institutional control held by Texas Tech University, as lessor. The HyperGrid Campus is expected to be the world’s largest hybrid energy and data infrastructure campus and is anticipated to generate over 11 GW of electricity to supply data centres, as well as other industries. Pantex is the primary US nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility.
Fermi America has submitted its Combined Operating Licence Application to build four Westinghouse AP1000 reactors as part of its HyperGrid Project. Fermi America plans to begin construction on the nuclear power complex in 2027 and aims to have the first reactor operational by 2032. Fermi America has also entered into an MOU with Hyundai E&C for the construction and engineering of the reactors.
Toby Neugebauer, Co-Founder of Fermi America, said, “Over the last three decades, our country has been asleep at the wheel, forcing reliance on foreign nations for critical technology materials such as next-generation semiconductors and nuclear energy. Fermi is determined to restore America as global leaders in the nuclear space, and our partnership with ASP Isotopes and Quantum Leap Energy is the natural next step.”
The MOU also envisages ASPI entering into a separate lease for the development and construction of a 100% ASPI-owned enrichment research and commercial production facility for stable isotopes and advanced materials (excluding advanced nuclear fuels), which may include critical materials, such as Silicon-28, Germanium-70, Ytterbium-176, Nickel-64, Xenon-129, Zinc-68 and Chlorine-37.
ASPI employs proprietary technology, the Aerodynamic Separation Process (ASP technology). The Company’s initial focus is on producing and commercialising highly enriched isotopes for the healthcare and technology industries. The Company also plans to enrich isotopes for the nuclear energy sector using Quantum Enrichment technology that the Company is developing. The Company has isotope enrichment facilities in Pretoria, South Africa, dedicated to the enrichment of isotopes of elements with a low atomic mass (light isotopes).
ASPI previously entered into two supply agreements with TerraPower, for HALEU from an initial uranium facility they expect to construct at Pelindaba in South Africa. The initial core supply agreement is intended to support the supply of the required first fuel cores for the initial loading of TerraPower’s Natrium project in Wyoming in 2027/28. The long-term supply agreement is a 10-year supply agreement of up to a total of 150 tonnes of HALEU, between 2028 and 2037.
The construction of an advanced nuclear fuel facility in Texas, USA would become the second facility owned or co-owned by QLE for the production of HALEU. ASPI and QLE are also in discussions with the UK government regarding the construction of an advanced nuclear fuel facility in the UK. ASPI has also previously announced its intention to spin out QLE as a separate public company at the end of 2025.
Paul Mann, Chairman and CEO of ASP Isotopes and Chairman of Quantum Leap Energy, said “During the last three years, ASP Isotopes has constructed three isotope enrichment facilities in South Africa to produce isotopes to enable faster semiconductors and next-generation cancer therapies. As a US company, our goal has always been to bring these technologies to the United States to ensure that the United States has a domestic supply of these materials and reduce its reliance on imports from other countries.”
Ryno Pretorius, CEO of Quantum Leap Energy, commented that “QLE is excited to enter the United States domestic production market as a provider of Nuclear Fuel Services to meet the rapidly growing demands of the Fermi America HyperGrid project, as well as existing and future partners in the United States. Our goal is to scale our technologies as quickly as possible to reduce the bottleneck on the nuclear fuel industry and unlock clean American nuclear energy that will provide consistent, base load power, not only for AI but millions of Americans. We believe Fermi America is another key strategic partner to help us develop and scale our nuclear fuel services and solutions in the United States with an initial base in Texas.”
