DOE commits to supplying HALEU to five advanced nuclear companies

Energy Secretary Chris Wright emphasized the importance of this initiative, stating, “Allocating this HALEU material will help U.S. nuclear developers deploy their advanced reactors with materials sourced from secure supply chains, marking an important step forward in revitalizing America’s nuclear sector.”

Enriched to between 5 and 19.75 percent fissile uranium-235, HALEU is essential for advanced reactors due to its ability to enable smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and increased efficiencies. However, domestic suppliers currently lack the capacity to produce HALEU. To address this gap, the DOE established the HALEU Availability Program in 2020, which facilitates the allocation of HALEU for civilian research, development, demonstration, and commercial use.

The commitments: Out of 15 companies that requested HALEU, five were selected based on prioritization criteria:

• TRISO-X
• Kairos Power
• Radiant Industries
• Westinghouse Electric Company
• TerraPower

These allocations will support projects under the DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program and other risk reduction initiatives. Some companies may receive their HALEU as early as this fall, with the contracting process now underway. The DOE plans to continue allocating HALEU to additional companies in the future.

A further look: A subsidiary of advanced reactor designer X-energy, TRISO-X is constructing a HALEU fuel fabrication facility at the DOE’s site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The company broke ground on the TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility in October 2022.

Also at Oak Ridge, Kairos Power is constructing a 35-MWt test reactor. Expected to be operational in 2027, the Hermes reactor will use HALEU TRISO fuel pebbles and molten FLiBe coolant (consisting of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride).

Radiant Industries is currently seeking funding to build its Kaleidos Development Unit (KDU) microreactor for testing at Idaho National Laboratory’s Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility. The company intends to commercialize the 1-MW microreactor as a portable nuclear unit that can be shipped “by land, sea, or air” to a site in days.

Likewise, Westinghouse is working to develop its eVinci microreactor. Last fall, the company completed the front-end engineering and experiment design for a scale version of the 5-MWe sodium-cooled heat pipe microreactor for testing at INL’s DOME facility.

Finally, TerraPower began construction last spring on its planned Natrium reactor demonstration project in Wyoming. Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 would operate as a 345-MW sodium-cooled reactor in conjunction with molten salt–based energy storage.