An American company has successfully produced enriched uranium above 5 percent U-235. Urenco USA claims that the company is the first commercial uranium facility to achieve this feat in the United States.
The step demonstrates the company’s ability to produce low enriched uranium plus (LEU+), which is uranium enriched to between 5-10 percent U-235. Urenco USA plans to begin production of commercial quantities of LEU+ for its customers in mid-2026.
“In 2025, we have delivered on our plans to launch a new advanced fuels capability and to install new production capacity, demonstrating Urenco USA’s commitment to supporting the future needs of our customers and the U.S. nuclear industry as the country increasingly relies on nuclear energy,” said John Kirkpatrick, managing director of Urenco USA.
“Our employees’ efforts this year will ensure that the United States continues to have a reliable domestic supplier of enriched uranium for our current reactor fleet and for the advanced reactors preparing for deployment in the coming years.”
Flexible resource for meeting customers’ fuel requirements
On September 30, 2025, Urenco USA received authorization from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to enrich uranium up to 10 percent U-235. All the plant’s cascades are licensed to produce LEU+, providing a flexible resource for meeting customers’ fuel requirements.
On December 11, the company completed its initial production run of uranium enriched to 8.5 percent U-235, which is the first time a commercial uranium enrichment facility in the United States has produced this level of enrichment.
This is also expected to reduce the United States’ nuclear fuel reliance on Russia.
Urenco claims that the availability of LEU+ supports several advancements for the nuclear industry. LEU+ will support longer operating cycles for the current fleet of light-water reactors, which will reduce their operating and maintenance costs, and supports the deployment of new accident-tolerant fuel designs.
Many advanced reactor designs will be able to utilize LEU+ for fuel, speeding their deployment timelines and providing them a domestic source of enrichment.
LEU+ can also serve as feedstock for producing high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), which is uranium enriched to between 10-20 percent U-235, increasing the potential output of future HALEU enrichment facilities, according to a press release.
The company also stated that it worked diligently to add new centrifuge cascades this year as part of a program that will install 700,000 separative work units (SWU) of capacity between 2025-2027 at its New Mexico uranium enrichment plant.
Production of low enriched uranium
The third new cascade began production of low enriched uranium (LEU) on December 16. Each of the three new cascades installed in 2025 started operating ahead of schedule, demonstrating the company’s ability to add new enrichment capacity to meet the growing demands of the U.S. market and supporting the U.S. government’s efforts to eliminate the country’s reliance on enriched uranium imported from Russia.
Urenco USA also claims that it’s the only company to have licensed, built, operated, and expanded a commercial uranium enrichment plant in the United States.