Urenco USA has brought its sixth new centrifuge cascade into operation at the National Enrichment Facility in New Mexico, marking the completion of 75% of its current expansion programme. The project, scheduled for implementation between 2025 and 2027, will introduce 700,000 separative work units (SWU) of additional capacity through eight centrifuge cascades installed in an existing building. The investment forms part of the companyโs longer-term plan to raise its domestic enrichment production capacity to more than 7 million SWU over the next decade.
The seventh cascade is expected to be installed later in 2026, followed by the final unit in spring 2027. Alongside the new installations, Urenco USA plans to begin refurbishing existing cascades in 2027 to maintain the facilityโs operational reliability and support a sustained supply of enrichment services to its customers.
The company has outlined another major development phase, with construction of a new enrichment plant scheduled to begin in 2029. The proposed facility will provide an additional 2.1 million SWU of capacity. Production from the initial cascades is expected to start in 2032, while further cascades will be installed through 2036. These projects form part of Urenco USAโs strategy to expand its enrichment capabilities for the nuclear industry.
Jody Blackshear, Managing Director of Urenco USA said, โWe are consistently delivering new capacity to help fuel the US nuclear industry and allied nations, and our teams are doing it ahead of schedule and on budget.โ
โThis experience will support our larger capacity programmes in the years ahead as we look to increase our enrichment production by more than 50% to meet the needs of our customers with traditional and advanced reactors,โ he added.
Uranium enrichment increases the concentration of uranium-235, the isotope capable of undergoing fission in a nuclear reactor. Naturally occurring uranium contains approximately 0.7% uranium-235, whereas most commercial nuclear reactors currently require fuel containing between 3.5% and 5% of the isotope. The process involves passing gaseous uranium hexafluoride through centrifuges, which separate isotopes using their slight differences in mass.
Located in Eunice, New Mexico, the Urenco USA National Enrichment Facility is currently the only commercial uranium enrichment facility in the United States. The expansion is intended to strengthen the companyโs ability to supply enrichment services as demand from conventional and advanced reactor technologies grows.