US nuclear fuel facility set for 50% expansion with 24 new centrifuge cascades

Urenco plans to expand uranium enrichment capacity at its U.S. facility in New Mexico by nearly 50 percent, adding 2.1 million separative work units (SWU) to support rising domestic demand for nuclear fuel. The multi-billion-dollar project will install 24 cascades of gas centrifuges at the National Enrichment Facility in Eunice. The first cascades are scheduled to enter production in 2032, with the remaining units installed through 2036. 24 cascades planned in New Mexico The expansion will use Urenco’s existing gas-centrifuge enrichment technology. These centrifuges separate uranium isotopes, increasing the concentration of uranium-235 required to produce fuel for commercial nuclear reactors. Natural uranium contains about 0.7 percent uranium-235, the fissile isotope that undergoes fission inside a reactor. Most operating nuclear power plants use low-enriched uranium containing between 3.5 percent and 5 percent uranium-235. Urenco CEO Boris Schucht said the additional capacity would serve the company’s U.S. customers while supporting federal efforts to expand domestic nuclear fuel production. “We’re making this substantial commitment to expand our U.S. facility to serve our U.S. customers’ needs. But this expansion also supports the U.S. Department of Energy’s goals to accelerate the deployment of new domestic capacity, strengthen the US nuclear fuel supply chain, and reinvigorate the nuclear industrial base,” Schucht said. He also thanked U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, his team and the administration for supporting the nuclear industry. “This is really an exciting time in the U.S. nuclear industry, and we are proud to be a part of it,” Schucht added. Investment to exceed $8 billion According to Schucht, Urenco’s total investment at the New Mexico site will now rise to substantially more than $8 billion. He said the facility was originally developed in response to customer demand and without public funding. “We built this plant at our customers’ request, and they backed it with long-term contracts. It is a commercial, world-class facility developed without any public funding,” Schucht said. “Our investment will now increase to substantially more than USD8 billion at the site. We are delighted to retain our customers’ trust, which has made this expansion possible,” he added. Construction is expected to support between 300 and 600 jobs during its peak phase. Once the new capacity is operational, the project is expected to create 70 long-term positions. Urenco USA already employs more than 500 staff members and long-term contractors at the Eunice facility. An Oxford Economics report published in late 2025 found that the company’s operations contributed more than $360 million to the U.S. economy during 2024-2025. Expansion follows an ongoing capacity increase The National Enrichment Facility began operating in 2010 and currently has an annual capacity of 4.3 million SWU. It can meet approximately one-third of the enrichment requirements of U.S. commercial nuclear power plants, with overseas facilities supplying the remainder. Urenco is already adding 700,000 SWU of annual capacity through a separate project scheduled for completion in 2027. The newly announced 2.1 million SWU expansion will follow that increase.The additional capacity is planned as U.S. nuclear fuel demand is expected to rise and the country prepares to end imports of Russian-enriched uranium. A complete US ban on those imports is scheduled to take effect in January 2028.Get the latest in engineering, tech, space & science - delivered daily to your inbox.Atharva is a full-time content writer with a post-graduate degree in media & amp; entertainment and a graduate degree in electronics & telecommunications. He has written in the sports and technology domains respectively. In his leisure time, Atharva loves learning about digital marketing and watching soccer matches. His main goal behind joining Interesting Engineering is to learn more about how the recent technological advancements are helping human beings on both societal and individual levels in their daily lives.