Britain is investing almost 200 million pounds ($251.14 million) to build Europe’s first facility to produce high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU), a fuel it says will be needed to power the next generation of nuclear energy projects, the government said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
As part of efforts to meet climate targets and boost energy security, Britain is seeking to increase its nuclear power capacity by 2050 to 24 gigawatts, equivalent to about a quarter of projected electricity demand, from about 14% today. It hopes to build new advanced reactors which could need the HALEU fuel.
Britain is awarding uranium enrichment firm Urenco 196 million pounds to build the facility in Cheshire, Northwest England, which will support around 400 jobs. It will be ready to produce the fuel by 2031 to be used domestically or exported, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said.
Many firms globally developing advanced nuclear reactors are relying on HALEU to fuel them but the main company currently selling commercial shipments of the fuel is TENEX, part of Russia’s state-owned energy company Rosatom.
