FUEL & FUEL CYCLE | ADVANCED FUELS
Building HALEU capacity
With the roll out of SMRs and Advanced reactor designs gathering pace, development of a commercial fuel cycle for higher enriched fuels must follow suit. NEI talks to senior members of Urenco’s Advanced Fuels Commercial team as they describe a sector in transition.
AS THE GLOBAL NUCLEAR SECTOR looks toward the early 2030s as a decisive decade for small modular reactors (SMRs) and interest in long-cycle, high-burnup fuels grows, the pressures on the front end of the fuel cycle are becoming more acute. In bid to meet this challenge Urenco has spent the past several years preparing to meet changing supply chain needs. What began as internal optimisation for slightly higher enrichments has now evolved into a new business line, Urenco Advanced Fuels. “Urenco had the vision at least five years ago to invest in this field, taking the first step into what is today called Urenco Advanced Fuels,” explains Dr Magnus Mori, Head of Advanced Fuels, Commercial, at Urenco. The origins of Urenco’s advanced fuel strategy predate
the recent wave of SMR announcements. Initially drivers came from utilities, especially in the US, which were seeking higher burnup rates to extend cycle lengths and, in some cases, to sharpen fleet economics. As Mori notes: “We started looking at high burn-up fuels for longer fuel cycles,
enriched to levels that are higher than 5%. Urenco already enriched up to 6% for internal optimisation and blending.” According to Urenco, that led to the initial definition of LEU+, covering enrichments up to 10% and occurred long before HALEU (high-assay low-enriched uranium of up to 20% ²³⁵U) became a focal point for the nuclear industry and the new generation of reactor designs. While the technical feasibility of LEU+ was not in doubt
given Urenco’s gas centrifuge technology, implementing LEU+ on a commercial scale required a decision to formalise the capability and build what is now a distinct advanced fuels business line. “After a few years of business development activities, that culminated with the creation of two teams,” says Mori, adding that one team handles internal project development; the other is fully commercially focused. Supported by new facilities, new logistics solutions, and a clear timetable for 20% enrichment capability, Mori says: “Our team has been fully dedicated to this market since 2023.”
Above: A new HALEU facility to enrich uranium up to 20% ²³⁵U is being developed in the UK at Urenco’s Capenhurst site in Cheshire
22 | December 2025 |
www.neimagazine.com
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