Spotlight
New Fuel Cycle Facility Licensing and Construction
The staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is tracking the license applications that were submitted and approved. Although several fuel cycle facilities possess approved licenses, the corporations are not currently pursuing construction due to business reasons. See the following pages for more information.
- Gas Centrifuge Enrichment Facility Licensing
- Laser Enrichment Facility Licensing
- Uranium Deconversion Facility Licensing
- Fuel Fabrication Facility Licensing
Current Status of Fuel Cycle Licensing Activities
Organization | Location | Type of Facility | Name of Facility | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Piketon, Ohio | Centrifuge enrichment | The application for the American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) located in Piketon, Ohio, was submitted to the NRC in August 2004. The NRC license for the ACP was issued in April 2007. The commercial low-enriched uranium (LEU) enrichment facility is to be largely housed in buildings constructed by DOE in the 1980s for its gas centrifuge project. No significant post-licensing construction of the commercial production of LEU at the ACP has taken place. The Lead Cascade licensed in 2004, a test loop for the facility located in the same buildings as the ACP, met its objectives and was decommissioned in 2018 after operating for about 10 years. In June 2021, the NRC approved a license amendment authorizing American Centrifuge Operating (ACO), a subsidiary of Centrus Energy Corp., to demonstrate commercial production of High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) using a 16-centrifuge cascade at the ACP. In November 2022, DOE contracted with ACO for the production of HALEU at the ACP. DOE’s base contract provides for Phases 1 (20 kg HALEU UF6) and 2 (900 kg HALEU UF6). Phase 3 (three, 3-year production cycles at an annual rate of 900 kg HALEU UF6) is subject to appropriations. In February 2023, ACO submitted an amendment application to produce 1400 kg of HALEU UF6 at the ACP by December 31, 2023. | ||
Wilmington, North Carolina | Laser enrichment | NRC issued a license amendment in May 2008 for the Globa Laser Enrichment, LLC (GLE) test loop to be operated on the Global Nuclear Fuels-America site in Wilmington, NC. A full scale enrichment facility was licensed in September 2012, although the facility was not built. The license was terminated on January 5, 2021. GLE was purchased by Cameco (a Canadian owned company at 49%) and SILEX Systems LTD (an Australian owned company at 51%) in 2021. GLE continues to operate a test loop for laser enrichment development and to optimize their industrialization processes. GLE submitted a license application for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Paducah, Kentucky: including the Environmental Report on June 13, 2025 (ML25164A077), and the Safety and Safeguards Analysis Report on July 1, 2025 (ML25179A000). The NRC staff accepted the PLEF license application for formal review on August 4, 2025, the NRC, (ML25202A201). | ||
Oak Ridge, Tennessee | Fuel Fabrication | TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility | TRISO-X submitted an application for a new fuel fabrication facility in parts between April 5, 2022 and November 4, 2022. The application was accepted for docketing on November 18, 2022. This initiated a formal review with a Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act review metric of 36 months. TRISO-X submitted updates to License Application documents to address modifications to the facility design and layout to support a near-term use of HALEU feedstock in the form of uranyl nitrate, to increase the site fabrication capacity, and to further the maturity of the design to reduce or eliminate hazards and enhance safety. As a result, the NRC staff issued a revised schedule letter on March 14, 2025 (ML23305A193). This letter updated the projected completion date to May 29, 2026. |
See Fuel Cycle Facilities Licensing for an overview of the licensing process for fuel cycle facilities.
Page Last Reviewed/Updated Tuesday, September 23, 2025
Page Last Reviewed/Updated Tuesday, September 23, 2025