U.S. looks to increase production of higher-energy uranium, DOE says

In support of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of Energy or DOE, issued a request for proposals or RFP for uranium enrichment services to help establish a reliable domestic supply of fuels using high-assay low-enriched uranium or HALEU, a crucial material needed to deploy advanced nuclear reactors, which will help reach President Biden’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, increase energy security, create good-paying jobs, and strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness. The DOE, continued in part : “Currently, HALEU is not commercially available from U.S.-based suppliers, and boosting domestic supply could spur the development and deployment of advanced reactors in the United States. ..”The Biden-Harris Administration knows that nuclear energy is essential to accelerating America’s clean energy future,” said Assistant to the President and National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi.”… It’s good news for our economy, for America’s union workforce, and for our planet.” In total, President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act will provide up to $500M for HALEU enrichment contracts selected through this RFP and a separate one, released in November, for services to deconvert the uranium enriched through this RFP into metal, oxide, and other forms to be used as fuel for advanced reactors…most U.S. advanced reactors require HALEU, which is enriched between 5% to 20%, to achieve smaller and more versatile designs with the highest standards of safety, security, and nonproliferation…. DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy plans to award one or more contracts to produce HALEU from domestic uranium enrichment capabilities. Once enriched, the HALEU material will be stored on site until there is a need to ship it to deconverters… Together, the United States, Canada, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom have announced collective plans to mobilize $4.2B in government-led spending to develop safe and secure nuclear energy supply chains.” Companies in the space include: Cameco (CCJ), NexGen Energy (NXE), Uranium Energy (UEC), Energy Fuels (UUUU) and Ur-Energy (URG).