UK invests in HALEU fuel for next gen nuclear reactors

The UK government is sinking £300 million into the development of a high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU) programme.

The programme, a first for Europe, will seek to produce the HALEU nuclear fuel for next generation reactors both to support the country’s nuclear ambitions but also to reduce dependence on Russia as the only commercial producer currently.

The programme is to take place in northwest England – presumably at Westinghouse’s Springfields facility at Preston – and also includes an additional £10 million to support development of the skills and sites to produce other advanced nuclear fuels in the UK and thereby help to secure long term nuclear fuel supply both domestically and for the export market.

“We stood up to Putin on oil and gas and financial markets, we won’t let him hold us to ransom on nuclear fuel,” said Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, in a statement.

Have you read?
Call for ‘Marshall Plan’ approach for SMRs
Energy Transitions Podcast: Why fusion energy is the ‘vaccine of climate change

“Britain gave the world its first operational nuclear power plant, and now we will be the first nation in Europe outside of Russia to produce advanced nuclear fuel. This will be critical for energy security at home and abroad and builds on Britain’s historic competitive advantages.”

The current fleet of nuclear reactors runs primarily on uranium fuel enriched up to 5% uranium-235 (U-235).

HALEU, which is required for the generation IV reactors and for example many of the small modular reactor designs currently under development, is enriched over 5% and up to 20% U-235, with the benefits based on the ability to achieve smaller and more efficient reactor designs with increased fuel burnup and reduced waste volumes.

While currently the only commercial production is in Russia, China is reported to have the infrastructure to produce HALEU at scale and in the US, nuclear fuel supplier Centrus Energy began production from a demonstration scale cascade in October 2023 with the aim to expand with sufficient funding and offtake commitments.

The World Nuclear Association advises that HALEU can be produced with existing centrifuge technology but requires a specific nuclear fuel cycle infrastructure and the development of new or modified regulations and licensing regimes as well as new or modified transport containers.

The UK government has the ambition to deliver up to 24GW of clean nuclear power by 2050 - a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs, and this investment is expected to support this.

Six companies, among them Westinghouse, are currently advancing designs for small modular reactors in the UK, with the first planned to become operational in the early 2030s.