Urenco USA Congratulates Advanced Reactor Companies Achieving Initial Criticality
06 July 2026
EUNICE, N.M. – Urenco USA congratulates the U.S. reactor development companies who have met the July 4, 2026, milestone of achieving the first criticality of their advanced reactor designs, which include Urenco’s customers Aalo Atomics, Antares Nuclear, and Valar Atomics.
Under the U.S. Department of Energy’s Reactor Pilot Program, these companies have successfully constructed and tested their advanced reactor designs and achieved criticality, demonstrating their technology’s readiness to advance to the next phase of deployment.
“We congratulate the companies who met this ambitious milestone, and we are proud to be part of their fuel supply teams. The achievements demonstrated by the U.S. advanced reactor sector this past year are phenomenal and herald an exciting future for the industry,” said Magnus Mori, Urenco’s head of advanced fuels. “Urenco is working diligently to ensure a robust fuel supply will be available to meet the requirements of our advanced reactor customers once their technologies transition into commercial deployment.”
Fueling Advanced Reactors
The advanced reactors technologies being deployed as part of the Reactor Pilot Program require various levels of enriched uranium to operate, running from the current industry standard of fuel containing up to 5% uranium-235 (low enriched uranium or LEU) to fuel containing up to 20% uranium-235 (high-assay low enriched uranium or HALEU). To support its customers’ needs, Urenco has proactively worked in recent years to expand the levels of enrichment it can produce and is deploying new capacity to meet growing demand.
To supply the emerging market for HALEU, Urenco is constructing a production plant at its UK facility that will be capable of producing up to 27 metric tons of HALEU per year and could be expanded to produce 54 metric tons annually with sufficient demand. This facility will begin production in 2031.
Urenco’s enrichment facilities in the United States and the United Kingdom have also recently completed the licensing and equipment upgrades necessary to produce uranium enriched up to 10%, known as LEU+, which can also be used by many advanced reactor designs for normal operations and by existing large light-water reactors to improve operational performance.
To support the growing demand for fuel from advanced reactors and existing plants Urenco is installing 4.6 million SWU of new enrichment capacity at sites in the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany over the next decade and is refurbishing existing capacity at all its facilities. With four operating production facilities, Urenco provides a diversity of supply that no other Western enrichment company can offer to operators of commercial nuclear power plants.
About Urenco USA
As America’s only commercial-scale producer of enriched uranium, Urenco USA operates the National Enrichment Facility, a strategic part of America’s energy infrastructure and nuclear fuel supply chain that began operations in 2010. The facility employs more than 500 U.S. employees and long-term contractors.
With nearly two decades of experience building and operating uranium enrichment capacity in the United States, Urenco USA is uniquely positioned to support U.S. utilities in meeting growing domestic energy needs and in strengthening U.S. energy security. Since its first product shipment in 2012, the company has delivered every customer order on time and to specification, representing more than 50 million SWU of production.
Urenco USA’s essential role in the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain supports the generation of reliable, secure, and sustainable energy for U.S. consumers and businesses. The company focuses on providing safe, cost-effective, and reliable uranium enrichment services for power generation while working within a framework of high regulatory and safety standards. Urenco USA’s world-class facility in southeastern New Mexico plays a vital role in supporting U.S. energy production, energy security, jobs, and manufacturing. To learn more, visit www.urencousa.com.
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Contact:
Jeremy Derryberry
Director of Communications, Urenco USA
[email protected]
505-975-3844
