DOE picks Utah startup Nusano for HALEU program amid slow domestic supply
The U.S. Department of Energy added Nusano to its Nuclear Energy Launch Pad to develop a new method for producing high-assay low-enriched uranium, but commercial-scale output remains years away.
The Department of Energy announced that Utah-based Nusano has joined its Nuclear Energy Launch Pad program to advance a novel HALEU enrichment technique that uses metal feedstock instead of gas centrifuges. Nusano claims each unit will generate 5.9 metric tons of HALEU per year, with the first plant slated for 2031, but it has not yet demonstrated a working enrichment unit or produced any HALEU. Currently, only Centrus produces HALEU in the United States, having delivered less than two metric tons since a 2019 contract, while other firms are still building capacity.
DOE projections suggest annual HALEU demand could reach 50 metric tons by 2035 to fuel small modular and molten-salt reactors, especially for data-center power. Earlier claims of a 50-ton per year breakthrough were retracted as outdated. With limited supply and the EPA rolling back emissions rules that could boost fossil-fuel generation, the timeline for low-carbon nuclear power to serve data centers remains distant.
Why it matters
Domestic HALEU supply is critical for deploying next-gen nuclear reactors and reducing reliance on foreign fuel sources.
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