Orano SA, a multinational nuclear fuel cycle company, has responded to a request for information made by the U.S. Department of Energy, stating that fixed demand for HALEU high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) was one of the major obstacles that needed to be overcome in order to achieve sustainable production.
The request for information was issued by the energy department late last year. Its objective was to find more input on its plan to establish a new program to assure the material’s availability, which is required for advanced reactor demonstration and commercial deployment. Currently, light water reactors use 3% to 5% enriched uranium fuel; HALEU is enriched between 5% and 20%.
Most of the designs of advanced reactors being developed in America are currently based on HALEU fuel, which allows them to achieve better efficiencies, longer cycles of operation and small designs. However, this fuel isn’t available at commercial scale from domestic suppliers at the moment. This, the request for information highlights, is a major obstacle to advanced reactor development and deployment for commercial applications.
Orano gave recommendations based on its many years of experience providing transportation and packaging services for nuclear material for clients around the globe and operating its uranium enrichment and conversion facilities in France. The company stated that a sustainable and successful approach by the Department of Energy would ensure that production of HALEU fuel in the future was available when required in the various physical forms needed by different reactor designs. It explained that there were obstacles to achieving this, which included the development of enrichment and conversion technology that was both proven in operation and reliable.
Orano also explained that ensuring firm demand for the production of HALEU would address commercial investment risk. The company stated that investors weren’t willing to pour funds into advanced reactor construction without an established supply of fuel; Orano also noted that suppliers of fuel were also reluctant to license and construct the needed de-conversion and enrichment capabilities until they had obtained commercial commitments that guaranteed a particular volume of demand.
The company’s assessment demonstrated that the most crucial factor that enables success is a meaningful and steady quantity commitment of HALEU by the Department of Energy. Orano added that in private-public partnerships, technology risk was to be borne by industry, in alignment with current commercial expertise in deconversion, enrichment, logistics and packaging.
The request for information was published on Dec. 14, 2021, in the U.S. Federal Register. The initial deadline for comments was set for Jan. 1, 2022. However, this deadline was extended to Feb. 14, 2022.
Currently, HALEU is used in a number of research reactors at various universities. It can also be utilized in the production of medical isotopes.
The federal government needs to give serious thought to the comments submitted by Orano and other industry actors. This is because there is an urgent need to start processing the uranium mined by local players, including Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), into forms that can be used to generate energy or for medical applications instead of depending on only foreign suppliers.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR) are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/UUUU
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