Friday, October 18, 2024
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Louisiana Energy Services, Olano Federal Services, General Matter, and American Centrifuge to provide enrichment services to help establish a supply of high-grade, low-enriched uranium in the United States. Operating Company was selected.
_70526.jpg "DOE selects HALEU enrichment provider 6")
Both companies received contracts worth at least $2 million each, funded under the Inflation Control Act. This will create strong competition and allow the Department of Energy (DOE) to “select the best fit for future work,” the agency said. All contracts last for up to 10 years. Depending on budget availability, up to US$2.7 billion will be available for these services. Under the contract, “selected companies” will bid for future work to produce and store high-analytical, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) in the form of uranium hexafluoride gas that will eventually fuel advanced reactors, according to the DOE. He plans to do so.
HALEU, uranium enriched to contain 5% to 20% uranium-235, is considered essential to America’s clean energy future and is used in many advanced nuclear reactors to meet clean energy and climate change goals. It is planned to be used. However, the country currently lacks commercial HALEU enrichment capacity to support the deployment of advanced nuclear reactors. These contracts are part of the U.S. government’s efforts to create a secure domestic HALEU supply chain and follow the recent announcement of contracts to support HALEU inversion services.
HALEU acquired by DOE through these agreements will be used to support reactors such as TerraPower’s sodium reactor and X-energy’s Xe-100, which are being developed through DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
Orano and Centrus, the parent company that operates American Centrifuge, are among six companies awarded DOE contracts worth at least $2 million each to provide HALEU reversal services. The company said the “robust, integrated solution for HALEU,” which includes enrichment and deconversion, will be installed at the company’s preferred site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where it plans to build a new centrifugal uranium enrichment facility. Ta.
“As a successful global leader in uranium chemistry, enrichment, and transportation, we have been involved from the beginning in the DOE process to develop a reliable, diverse, and commercially viable U.S. HALEU capability. ” said Jean-Luc, Orano USA CEO. Mr. Palaya said, “Demand for clean and stable nuclear energy is rapidly increasing in our country, and recently, demand from top technology companies for energy-intensive AI and data centers has increased, making the nuclear industry With DOE’s help, establish the necessary HALEU supply chain now and be ready to power our advanced reactors.”
Centrus is already producing HALEU for DOE under a two-phase cost-share agreement signed in 2022. Last November, the company delivered its first 20kg HALEU, produced at its U.S. centrifuge plant in Piketon, Ohio, to the DOE. The second phase of the contract will then see the production of HALEU in a 900 kg/year factory for one year.
Centrus President and CEO Amir Bexler said the award could accelerate Centrus’ potential expansion of HALEU production capacity. He added: “This represents an important part of the public-private partnership we are building to ensure we can restore robust U.S.-owned uranium enrichment capacity to power our nuclear energy future.” added.
American Centrifuge Operating will manufacture centrifuges and auxiliary equipment exclusively in the United States, relying on domestic engineering and an existing domestic supply chain that is expected to grow, the company said.
Louisiana Energy Services is the operator of Urenco USA’s centrifugal enrichment plant in Eunice, New Mexico. The plant is the only commercial enrichment capacity currently operating in North America and is already being expanded to meet additional demand. The company is also in the licensing process to increase enrichment to 10% to produce so-called low enriched uranium+ (or LEU+) to support existing and next-generation nuclear reactors, which means that uranium The company says it will be an important stepping stone toward production. Hallew.
“We welcome this award and support the Department of Energy’s efforts to accelerate the development of the HALEU commercial market and, in turn, accelerate the development of next-generation nuclear power plants,” said John Kirk, Managing Director of Urenco USA. Patrick said.
The fourth company named by the DOE as an award recipient is General Matter. General Matter Inc. was registered in California earlier this year, and Scott Nolan has been named CEO, according to publicly available information. Nolan, a former SpaceX employee, is a partner at Founders Fund, a venture capital firm co-founded by billionaire investor Peter Thiel.
On September 30, the Financial Times reported that the Founders Fund is backing nuclear startups looking to develop new ways to produce HEU. Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the paper said the project is “in its early stages, but is already staffed by nuclear industry veterans and SpaceX engineers.”
