# Urenco

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/urenco
European uranium enricher owned in equal thirds by the UK, Dutch and German governments. It runs centrifuge plants in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and the only commercial US enrichment plant, in Eunice, New Mexico.

## In brief

- About 17.2 million SWU a year of enrichment across four plants (end-2025); Eunice alone covers about a third of US demand.
- Adding 700,000 SWU in Eunice in 2025-27, then a new 2.1 million SWU plant: construction 2029, first output 2032.
- Licensed in the US to enrich up to 10% U-235; a 27 t/yr HALEU plant is planned at Capenhurst, UK, for 2031.

## Facts

- Headquarters: GB
- Status: private
- Website: https://www.urenco.com
- Frontiers: [Energy](https://technooptimist.io/energy.md) (Nuclear fuel)

## Programs

- [Urenco USA Eunice expansion](https://technooptimist.io/energy/eunice-expansion.md) (Energy): Scaling; next: Eighth and last cascade: 700,000 SWU added (Q1 2027). Five of eight new cascades running (June 2026); a new 2.1M SWU plant follows from 2029.

## Technical approach

- **Gas centrifuges: Spin uranium gas to sort isotopes**: Uranium hexafluoride gas spins in fast rotors; the slightly lighter U-235 is drawn off near the axis. Machines come from ETC, co-owned with Orano.
- **Cascades: Grow capacity one hall at a time**: Eunice has 64 cascades. New ones start producing as soon as each is installed, so capacity rises in steps instead of all at once.
- **LEU+: Fuel enriched to 5-10%**: First US commercial run at 8.5% U-235 in Dec 2025. LEU+ lets reactors run longer and is the starting feed for HALEU plants.
- **HALEU: Up to 20% U-235 in the UK**: Capenhurst Advanced Fuels Facility, co-funded with £196M from the UK government: up to 27 t of HALEU a year, enough for up to 30 advanced reactors.

## Open problems

- **Closing the gap left by Russia** (active research): Russian imports end with waivers on 1 Jan 2028. Russia supplied 20% of the enrichment US reactors bought in 2024.
- **Building only against contracts** (active research): Urenco sizes new halls to its order book (€21.3bn at end-2025); utilities must sign long contracts before capacity is built.

## Upcoming

- **Q1 2027**: Last of eight new cascades online (Urenco USA Eunice expansion)
- **1 Jan 2028**: US waivers for Russian enriched uranium end (Urenco USA Eunice expansion)
- **2029**: Construction of the new 2.1M SWU plant begins (Urenco USA Eunice expansion)

## Latest updates

- **22 Jun 2026**: Fifth new cascade starts production at Urenco USA. Urenco USA's fifth new cascade began producing enriched uranium on 22 June 2026. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/fifth-new-cascade-starts-production-at-urenco-usa-f6fbd5a8.md) · [original source](https://www.urenco.com/news/uusa/2026/urenco-usa-continues-successful-installation-of-us-uranium-enrichment-capacity))
- **2 Jun 2026**: Urenco to build a 2.1 million SWU enrichment plant in New Mexico, lifting the site past 7 million SWU. Urenco will build a new enrichment plant of up to 24 centrifuge cascades at Eunice, adding 2.1 million SWU, nearly 50% more capacity, with private money. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/urenco-to-build-a-2-1-million-swu-enrichment-plant-in-new-mexico-a6ae6b96.md) · [original source](https://www.powermag.com/americas-only-commercial-uranium-enricher-is-privately-building-a-new-plant-amid-a-widening-nuclear-fuel-supply-gap/))
- **2 Apr 2026**: Urenco USA starts its fourth new cascade, halfway through a 700,000 SWU expansion. The fourth new centrifuge cascade at Urenco USA's Eunice plant began producing low-enriched uranium on 30 March 2026, the halfway point of the current expansion. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/urenco-usa-starts-its-fourth-new-cascade-halfway-through-a-700-000-swu-03fd594e.md) · [original source](https://www.urenco.com/news/usa/2026/urenco-usa-reaches-half-way-point-of-current-u.s-capacity-expansion))
- **10 Sep 2025**: Urenco USA brings its second new cascade online ahead of schedule. A second new centrifuge cascade began producing at Urenco USA's plant in Eunice, New Mexico, ahead of schedule, following the first in May. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/urenco-usa-brings-its-second-new-cascade-online-ahead-of-schedule-83c1d318.md) · [original source](https://www.urenco.com/news/uusa/2025/urenco-usa-expands-u.s-enrichment-capacity-with-second-new-cascade))

## Partners, customers and investors

- Orano (partner): Co-owns Enrichment Technology Company (ETC), which makes the centrifuges both companies use.
- Aalo Atomics (customer): July 2025: 5% enriched uranium for the Aalo-X reactor at Idaho National Laboratory.
- Radiant (customer): September 2025: binding HALEU supply deal for the Kaleidos microreactor.
- Antares (customer): May 2026: multi-year HALEU supply agreement.
- Valar Atomics (customer): LEU and LEU+ supply contracts.

## People

- Boris Schucht, Chief Executive Officer
- John Kirkpatrick, Managing Director, Urenco USA

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