US raises domestic uranium enrichment capacity with over $2.7 billion in orders

In line with the United States’ medium to long-term vision of boosting domestic uranium enrichment and reducing dependence on enriched uranium imports from Russia, the U.S. Department of Energy announced on Monday that American Centrifuge Operating, a subsidiary of Centrus Energy and General Matter have been awarded $900 million each to develop domestic HALEU enrichment capacity, while Orano Federal Services has been awarded $900 million to expand domestic low-enrichment uranium.

The awarded contracts stipulate that the contracted companies would need to provide enrichment services for low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) for existing power plants and new, smaller modular reactors, over the next ten years. Global Laser Enrichment, partly owned by Canadian uranium company Cameco has been awarded $28 million to further its work on next-gen enrichment technology in the US.

"Today’s awards show that this Administration is committed to restoring a secure domestic nuclear fuel supply chain capable of producing the nuclear fuels needed to power the reactors of today and the advanced reactors of tomorrow," Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said.

The benefits of high-assay low-enriched uranium

Russia is currently the largest producer of HALEU - uranium enriched to between 5% and 20% - which is said to make new high-tech reactors more efficient in commercial volumes. While HALEU's critics limit enrichment to between 10% and 12% for safety, its benefits for next-generation nuclear reactors are reportedly multifold. These include enabling smaller, more efficient designs with greater energy output, longer fuel cycles (up to 10 years), reduced refueling downtime, and less nuclear waste - ultimately improving performance and supporting advanced technologies.

As of 2020, Russia maintained nearly half of the world’s uranium enrichment capacity with 27, 700 Separate Work Units (SWU) annually.

Reduced dependence globally

The United States’ vision of reduced dependence on Russian uranium imports stems from a need for increased energy security, increased domestic nuclear technology development and a strategy focused on diversifying the nuclear fuel supply chain, and was the focus of the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, passed in May 2024 - which fully bans the import of uranium from Russia between 2028 and 2040.

In addition to the US, other key players phasing out dependence on Russian uranium include members of the European Union such as France, Netherlands, Sweden, and Eastern European countries that operate Russian-designed Water-Water Energetic (VVER) Reactors. China continues to be a leading importer of enriched uranium from Russia.