Urenco receives £196m to build advanced nuclear fuels facility

The new facility, the first in Europe outside of Russia to develop next-generation nuclear fuel, will help the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to realise its High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) Programme, which was announced in January.

HALEU is uranium enriched up to 20 per cent and will be needed to fuel most advanced modular reactors (AMR) that will help the UK to quadruple its nuclear capacity by 2050. Like small modular reactors, AMRs can be made in factories and transform how power stations are built by making construction faster and less expensive.

According to DESNZ, these advanced reactors are more efficient and use novel fuels, coolants, and technologies to generate low-carbon electricity. Their high heat output means they can also be used to decarbonise industry, produce hydrogen for transport or heat for homes.  

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Urenco’s facility will have the capacity to produce up to 10 tonnes of HALEU per year by 2031. When fabricated into fuel, 10 tonnes of HALEU could contain as much energy as over one million tons of coal.