A Western first at Eunice, New Mexico

Urenco USA has produced its first commercial cylinder of low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+), uranium enriched to between 5% and 10% U-235, at the National Enrichment Facility in Eunice, New Mexico. The milestone is being described as the first commercial production of this material in the Western world, and it establishes an operational precedent for supplying next-generation reactor designs.

Urenco USA is the only provider of commercial-scale uranium enrichment services in the United States. Its Eunice plant began commercial operations in 2010 and currently has a nominal output of about 4.3 million separative work units (SWU) per year.

Every cascade is licensed for LEU+

The company said all gas centrifuge cascades at the New Mexico site are licensed to produce LEU+, meaning output volume can be adjusted to match commercial contract specifications rather than being confined to a single dedicated line. That flexibility matters for a fuel product that sits between conventional low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

Conventional light water reactor fuel is typically enriched to 3%-5% U-235. LEU+ raises that concentration to 5%-10%, which increases energy density and allows operators to run longer cycles between refuelling outages, trimming maintenance costs and improving annual plant factor. LEU+ also serves as a base material for future HALEU production, and some advanced reactors under development will use LEU+ directly rather than HALEU.

Engineering work behind the cylinder

Urenco USA Managing Director Jody Blackshear credited the plant and its staff with the preparation required to reach the milestone, saying a tremendous amount of work went into getting ready and that the company can now supply an innovative fuel option for customers while supporting the next generation of nuclear fuel technologies.

"A tremendous amount of work went into preparing the plant and staff" — Urenco USA Managing Director Jody Blackshear

The achievement also feeds into a broader supply chain argument: commercial adoption of higher-assay LEU formats is being linked to small modular reactor deployment and to reducing dependence on foreign suppliers in the nuclear fuel cycle.

What comes next

The first cylinder is a production milestone rather than a volume commitment. Urenco USA is simultaneously installing 700,000 SWU of new centrifuge capacity at the site and planning a further 2.1 million SWU plant, with construction targeted to begin in 2029 and first cascades producing in 2032. That new capacity is also expected to be available for LEU+ output.

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