The awards are part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) HALEU availability programme, established in 2020 to secure a domestic supply of HALEU for civilian domestic research, development, demonstration, and commercial use. HALEU – high-assay, low-enriched uranium – contains up to 20% fissile uranium-235 and will be used to fuel many of the advanced reactors that are currently under development. But the higher enrichment levels compared with the low-enriched uranium fuel currently used by most commercial reactors brings extra challenges for transportation of the material.
DOE said the awards will support industry-led efforts to design, modify, and license transportation packages through the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), helping to establish HALEU transport capabilities to better serve domestic reactor developers and strengthen the US nuclear supply chain. They also advance recent executive orders from President Donald Trump to reinvigorate the US nuclear fuel cycle and accelerate the deployment of advanced reactors.
The awards are made under two topic areas: developing new package designs that can be licensed by the NRC; and modifying existing design packages for NRC certification. The awardees under the first topic area – which has a performance period of three years – are NAC International, Westinghouse Electric Company, Container Technologies Industries, LLC, American Centrifuge Operating, and Paragon D&E. NAC International is the sole awardee under the second topic area, which has a performance period of two years.
The awards were announced during a visit to Idaho National Laboratory by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, who said the Trump administration is fully committed to restoring US supply chains. “Thanks to President Trump, the Energy Department is operating at record speeds to unleash the next American Nuclear Renaissance and to deliver more affordable, reliable, and secure energy for American families and businesses,” he said.
