COVER STORY | BEYOND URANIUM
industrial-scale isotope handling will position it to scale alongside market growth as early stage R&D leads to commercial engagement. Beyond technical performance, isotope supply is also
becoming a strategic issue. Historically, a significant share of enriched stable isotopes came from Russian suppliers, but growing concerns over resilience and supply security have increased the importance of alternative production routes. In that context, Urenco sees particular value in developing a European-based supply chain that combines enrichment, conversion and reduced logistics complexity closer to end applications. Consequently, the company believes localising
production and conversion within Europe provides strategic advantages. “What we are trying to develop is a fully EU-based supply chain with minimal logistics movements before the product reaches the application,” says van Hezel, noting that there are both geopolitical but also technical implications. “The logistics themselves can become a problem for these materials if supply chains are heavily dependent on global transport routes.” “We already have all the ingredients in place to support the market wherever it grows to,” observes van Hezel. “Today the quantities are grammes or kilogrammes. Tomorrow it may become tonnes and we already have extensive experience scaling isotope production.” In the meantime, while quantum computing represents
a potentially transformative future market, industrial applications within other parts of the nuclear sector remain a substantial part of Urenco’s isotope portfolio. One of the company’s largest products by volume is
depleted zinc-64, used in conventional light water reactor cooling systems. “Nuclear plants use zinc in cooling circuits to improve corrosion resistance. The reason they use depleted zinc is because neutron activation of zinc- 64 would create zinc-65, which is radioactive.” By removing zinc-64 from the material, operators
Decades of centrifuge expertise are now being applied far beyond the traditional nuclear fuel cycle. Source: Urenco
A parallel process for commercial products is
underway for germanium too. “We also enrich germanium fluoride, which then needs conversion into germane gas for deposition processes,” adds Wietse.
Creating isotope supply chains Crucially, Urenco sees itself not simply as a supplier, but as a co-development partner as van Hezel says: “Because many isotope-enabled applications are still moving from R&D towards industrialisation, Urenco increasingly works with customers as a development partner as well as a manufacturer, helping bridge the gap between experimental requirements and scalable production realities. We are not just producers, we are also co-developers. Many of these initiatives are still in the R&D phase. We provide materials, support calculations, and help determine what is realistically achievable from a production perspective.” That collaborative approach reflects the early-stage
nature of the market. “There is always a chicken-and-egg problem in
emerging technologies,” continues van Hezel, saying: “Initially customers only need tens or hundreds of grams. Commercially that may not sound very attractive, but the material must exist for the R&D to progress.” Nonetheless, Urenco believes its experience in
38 | June 2026 |
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gain corrosion protection without creating additional radiation sources. “We deplete zinc-64 to below 1% abundance. Plants
therefore get the benefit of increased corrosion resistance without the downside of increased radiation,” Wietse explains, adding that the material is supplied as zinc oxide powder, pellets, or soluble zinc acetate. The market is already substantial with typical boiling
water reactors consuming between 60 kg and 90 kg per year. “Zinc is our largest product in terms of volume and we supply around one tonne annually,” says Wietse.
Beyond the fuel cycle For Urenco, stable isotopes represent more than a diversification beyond uranium enrichment. They reflect a growing role at the intersection of advanced manufacturing, materials science and strategic supply chain development. As emerging technologies move from research towards commercial deployment, access to high-purity isotopic materials at scale will become increasingly important. In that transition, Urenco sees its role not simply as
supplying enriched material, but as helping enable the industrial foundations on which entirly new applications can be built. As Wietse concludes: “Without enriched or depleted isotopes, many of these applications simply cannot exist”. ■
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