Quantum Leap Energy (QLE), a subsidiary of ASP Isotopes (ASPI), and South Africa's state-owned Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) will establish a joint venture to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) at Necsa's Pelindaba nuclear site near Pretoria. The partners will develop, finance, construct and operate both a test bench and a commercial-scale enrichment facility.
The agreement follows a memorandum of understanding signed in November 2024 and a subsequent pre-implementation services contract agreement.
An 80/20 operating split
QLE will hold an 80% operating stake and lead financing, deploying its proprietary enrichment technology and arranging capital. Necsa retains a 20% interest and will provide site access, infrastructure, engineering support, nuclear safeguards and regulatory compliance.
ASP technology's first commercial deployment
The facility will use the Aerodynamic Separation Process (ASP), an advanced isotope separation technology described as a "stationary-wall centrifuge." It was adapted from South Africa's historical Helikon vortex tube system used in the 1970s and 1980s, then modernised and commercialised by Klydon and its parent ASPI. The system relies on high-speed fluid dynamics rather than mechanical spinning to separate isotopes by atomic mass differences. The Necsa joint venture marks the first time this modernised aerodynamic process would be deployed commercially for UF6 HALEU enrichment.
Regulatory groundwork already laid
In July 2026 QLE received approval from South Africa's Ministry of Electricity & Energy to acquire, possess, use, dispose of and transport source material and nuclear related equipment and technology to advance uranium enrichment activities at Pelindaba, where a test bench facility was previously constructed. Refurbishment of the infrastructure housing the test bench is underway and engagements with relevant authorities have started.
"The world needs new, reliable and secure sources of advanced nuclear fuel, and South Africa is well placed to provide them," said Loyiso Tyabashe, Group Chief Executive Officer of Necsa. He said Necsa will bring decades of experience in nuclear operations, safeguards and regulatory compliance to creating a trusted new source of commercial HALEU supply.
A site with six decades of history
Pelindaba hosts the ageing 20 MW Safari-1 research reactor. Established in 1961 as a civilian nuclear research centre backed by the US under "Atoms for Peace," it later became the secretive base where South Africa developed an indigenous nuclear fuel cycle and built six gun-type atomic weapons. South Africa voluntarily dismantled its weapons programme in 1989 and signed the NPT in 1991, and the state-owned Atomic Energy Corporation was restructured in 1999 to become Necsa.
ASPI is headquartered in Washington DC, but approximately 97% of its workforce and all of its operating assets are based in South Africa. QLE, a development-stage company, has facilities and planned operations in Texas and Gauteng, including a partnership with Fermi America to develop HALEU enrichment research and commercial production as part of an 11 GWe hybrid energy and data infrastructure campus in Texas.
This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.