The regulatory pathway for fuel enriched above 5 percent uranium-235 is being defined in the United States right now, and two fuel vendors are moving at different speeds.

Westinghouse: Pre-Application Underway

Westinghouse has completed pre-construction preparation work at its Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility site in Hopkins, South Carolina, and since 2024 has engaged with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ahead of submitting an application to amend its existing facility licence.

Pre-application meetings have covered management measures, an integrated safety analysis, a criticality safety programme, and environmental review activities. The most recent meeting, on October 19, 2026, discussed instrumentation and control design. Westinghouse has not yet officially submitted the licence amendment application, meaning the $1 billion LEU+ plant it announced remains contingent on regulatory approval.

Westinghouse's existing CFFF is a licensed Category III fuel fabrication facility allowed to process low-enriched uranium fuel enriched to less than 10 percent U-235.

The company's planned LEU+ product, enriched up to 8 percent, is designed to stay within that Category III envelope — a deliberate choice that avoids the more demanding criticality and safeguards requirements associated with higher-assay material.

Framatome: Approvals in Hand

Framatome has already received NRC approval to fabricate LEU+ fuels at its Richland, Washington facility. The company announced approval of its licence amendment in May 2026, then in July 2026 announced a second licence amendment request had been granted specifically for production of LEU+ fuel enriched up to 10 percent. Framatome expects to begin LEU+ fuel fabrication in 2027.

Why the Boundary Matters for HALEU

The distinction between LEU+ (5 to 10 percent) and HALEU (above 5 percent, below 20 percent) matters commercially and regulatorily. Facilities licensed to handle up to 10 percent can serve much of the near-term LEU+ market — longer fuel cycles, uprates — without crossing into the higher-assay regime that advanced reactors need.

HALEU fabrication, by contrast, requires handling uranium in a form with substantially greater criticality risk, driving more stringent NRC oversight and, in many cases, different facility categories entirely.

Broader Regulatory Momentum

The LEU+ announcements came days after the NRC approved Westinghouse's application to renew and update the design certification of its AP1000 reactor, which the company seeks to deploy broadly domestically and internationally. Taken together, the licensing activity suggests US regulators are processing both reactor design renewals and higher-enrichment fuel authorisations in parallel — a prerequisite for any HALEU ecosystem to function at scale.

This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.