The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the final environmental impact statement for Global Laser Enrichment’s (GLE) proposed laser enrichment facility located near the Department of Energy’s Paducah Site in Kentucky.
According to GLE’s Oct. 23 press release, NRC staff recommended issuing a license to construct and operate the facility. This issuance comes months after NRC published GLE’s draft environmental impact statement in April.
The proposed Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility, if constructed, would re-enrich depleted uranium tails from DOE’s legacy gaseous diffusion plant at Paducah. GLE said the re-enriched uranium tails will provide a new source of domestic uranium, conversion and enrichment production.
GLE previously said it hopes to begin operation of its planned Paducah enrichment facility online by 2030. The company acquired 665 acres of land adjacent to DOE’s Paducah legacy site in November 2024.
“The NRC’s issuance of the final environmental impact statement represents a significant regulatory milestone for the PLEF [Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility] and reflects the NRC staff’s comprehensive and efficient review of our application,” GLE Vice President, Safety, Security & Compliance Tim Knowles said in the release.
GLE first submitted its environmental report with the NRC in December 2024 and later completed its application filing with its safety analysis report in July 2025. The company said the NRC is still reviewing its full application and awaits the issuance of the agency staff’s final safety evaluation report.
NRC staff is expected to publish the GLE’s final safety evaluation report by the end of this year, according to the release.
GLE is jointly owned by Silex, an Australian uranium enrichment technology company, and Cameco, a Canadian uranium and nuclear reactor technology company. Silex invented the laser uranium technology that GLE will use at its Paducah facility.
