Urenco USA starts up second cascade for expanded uranium enrichment

Urenco USA has started producing low-enriched uranium with its second new cascade of gas centrifuges at its enrichment facility in New Mexico, the company said Wednesday.

Urenco USA, an affiliate of the European Urenco Group, said it started the cascade ahead of schedule and on budget, according to its Wednesday press release.

The newest centrifuge comes as a part of Urenco USA’s expansion to increase uranium enrichment by 15%. The company said it has several more centrifuges expected to become operational by early 2027.

“With the current expansion campaign, our projects and operations teams are demonstrating their ability to build, install, and startup new cascades on a regular schedule, proving we are capable of growing to meet new demand as it arises,” Urenco USA managing director John Kirkpatrick said in the release.

The company previously started up its first new gas centrifuge cascade at the National Enrichment Facility in Eunice, N.M. in May, which was the first capacity added in several years.

Plans for expanded uranium enrichment capacity at the New Mexico facility were announced by Urenco USA in July 2023. The new centrifuges were installed at the facility in October 2024.

The company added that the production of its newest centrifuges continues to align with current U.S. goals to strengthen the domestic nuclear industrial base and domestic nuclear fuel supply chain.

Urenco USA is the only U.S. commercial producer of enriched uranium and has the capacity to meet approximately one-third of the enrichment needs of U.S. commercial nuclear plants, according to the press release.