US / Four Companies Win Awards For Haleu Deconversion Services

Four companies have been chosen as awardees under an $800m (€730m) US Department of Energy (DOE) contract to provide high-assay low-enriched uranium (Haleu) deconversion services for advanced nuclear power reactors.

According to a notice published by the DOE, the four companies are Nuclear Fuel Services, Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, American Centrifuge Operating and Framatome.

In November 2023, the DOE issued a solicitation for the potential 10-year contract to deconvert Haleu to produce fuels for advanced reactors.

Each awardee will receive a minimum guarantee of $2m and conduct deconversion and storage services at locations within the continental US.

The work could involve deconverting uranium hexafluoride gas to a metal and oxide that will be transported and stored until there is a need for it to be manufactured into fuel for advanced nuclear reactors.

Framatome said in a statement that the DOE contract is to provide deconversion services for Haleu production for new domestic capacity “in support of the mission of nuclear energy”.

It said deconversion services include the design, licensing and construction of production facilities and the production of oxide and metal Haleu product.

Haleu is enriched uranium with the concentration of fissile isotope U-235 above 10% and below 20% of the total mass.

Since the standard enrichments for the current US light-water reactor nuclear fleet are below 5%, Haleu is an essential component for the future of advancing nuclear technology in the US and around the world, Framatome said.