Urenco USA has hit the halfway mark in its U.S. enrichment capacity expansion program after installing the fourth new cascade of gas centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico, the company said Thursday.
Urenco USA, an affiliate of the European Urenco Group, said in a press release that the fourth cascade began producing low-enriched uranium on Monday. All four cascades installed during the current expansion program began operating ahead of schedule.
The company’s capacity expansion program aims to install 700,000 separative work units (SWU) of new capacity at its National Enrichment Facility in Eunice, N.M. from 2025 to 2027. With the fourth cascade added, the capacity is 350,000 SWU of new capacity.
Urenco USA installed three of the new cascades last year. The first was installed in May, the second in September and the third in December.
“As the United States prepares to end the imports of nuclear fuel from Russia, the installation of new uranium enrichment capacity will play a critical role in ensuring U.S. utilities have the supply they need to support the future operations of their nuclear plants,” Urenco USA Managing Director John Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick added: “With our current capacity expansion program in the U.S., the capacity refurbishment programs at Urenco’s other sites, and other allied sources of supply, we are confident that the country can make this important transition away from Russian uranium imports when the ban on Russian material goes fully into effect at the end of 2027.”
The uranium enrichment company also plans to further expand its New Mexico plant by up to 2.1 million SWU in the future. The additional expansion is supported by long-term contracts, Urenco USA said.
Parallel to Urenco USA’s expansion plans, it is also planning to refurbish existing capacity at the New Mexico site starting in 2027. This would be part of its ongoing capital investments at the National Enrichment Facility, according to the release.