The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved the Centrus Energy Corp’s licence amendment request to produce high-assay, low-enriched Uranium (Haleu) at its enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio.
The Piketon plant is now the only US facility licensed to enrich uranium up to 20% Uranium-235 (U-235) and expects to begin demonstrating Haleu production early next year.
The Piketon plant is now the only US facility licensed to enrich uranium up to 20% Uranium-235 (U-235) and expects to begin demonstrating Haleu production early next year.
Haleu-based fuels will be required for most of the advanced reactor designs under development and might also be used in next-generation fuels for the existing fleet of reactors in the US and around the world.
Developers of nine of the 10 advanced reactor designs selected for funding under the US Department of Energy’s advanced reactor demonstration programme have said they will rely on Haleu-based fuels.
Under a 2019 contract with the DOE’s office of nuclear energy, Centrus is constructing a cascade of 16 AC100M centrifuges – a US-origin technology – to demonstrate production of Haleu. The three year, $115m, cost-shared contract runs to mid-2022.
