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HALEU is uranium enriched to between 5% and 20%, which backers say has the potential to make new high-tech reactors more efficient. Uranium fuel used in today's reactors is enriched to about 5%.
Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235 U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation.Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 U with 99.2732–99.2752% natural abundance), uranium-235 (235 U, 0.7198–0.7210%), and uranium-234 (234 U, 0.0049–0.0059%).
It will use "recycled" high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel originally fabricated for the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), [1] [2] [3] and if fully operational, would become "the first fuel-recycling commercial reactor in the United States". [4]
At this point, the result is "low enriched uranium," or LEU. Certain nuclear reactors require even more refinement, to about 20%, at which point the substance is called "high assay" LEU, or HALEU.
In June 2021, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a license amendment request for Centrus to enrich uranium up to a Uranium-235 concentration of 20 percent, making it the first U.S. facility licensed for HALEU production. This is higher than the 5 percent level found in Low-Enriched Uranium that is used in existing light-water reactors.
Under a deal struck by lawmakers, passing the ban on the imports would unlock funds to expand domestic uranium enrichment and for producing a special uranium fuel called high assay low enriched ...
BWXT Tech developed a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) which will generate between 1 and 5 MWe and will be transportable in shipping containers. It will be powered by TRISO fuel, a specific design of high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel that can withstand high temperatures and has relatively low environmental risks. [21]
The enriched uranium would support the demonstration and deployment of advanced reactor technology. DOE also awarded contracts to six companies to convert HAELU into oxide or metal forms that can ...