Framatome Richland authorization of TRISO fuel fabrication in the Specialty Fuels Building and enrichment increase from 6.5 to up to 10.0 wt% U-235 (Amendment 21)

Framatome Richland authorization of TRISO fuel fabrication in the Specialty Fuels Building and enrichment increase from 6.5 to up to 10.0 wt% U-235 (Amendment 21): NRC fuel-cycle amendment review for Framatome, Inc. — issued, 11.6 months from docketing to decision. Sourced dates and schedule.

Background: NRC reactor licensing process, explained · The ADVANCE Act, explained: what changed and where the NRC stands

Current state

Review time is measured in average months from the date the NRC docketed the application to the decision. The NRC's own reported durations may measure to the final safety evaluation instead.

Notes

NRC target decision: 2026-06-30 (projected completion in Q3 FY2026 report) (month only). Acceptance took ~9.5 months: RSI Jan. 6, 2025, follow-ups Mar. 24 and Mar. 28, 2025; supplements Feb. 5, June 27 and July 1, 2025. Technical review included separate RAIs (Sept. 10, 2025; Feb. 11 and Mar. 26, 2026), an electrical/digital I&C audit Apr. 14–16, 2026, and final RAI responses May 29, 2026. SER (ML26155A310) is undated in the text read; decided date taken from the NRC Q3 FY2026 status report table. Amended licence (ML26155A308) is "SNM-1227, Amendment 21". Hearing opportunity noticed Oct. 2, 2025. Framatome release (July 23, 2026) says the LAR "was submitted ... in September 2024". Licence/permit: SNM-1227.

Timeline

• 2024-09-20 — Application received: “The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has received your submittal dated September 20, 2024 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System [ADAMS] Accession No. ML24264A171), transmitting your request to authorize Tri-structural Isotropic (TRISO) fuel fabrication in the Specialty Fuels (SF) Building” (source)
• 2025-07-07 — Accepted for review (docketed): “The NRC completed the acceptance review of the License Amendment Request (LAR) on July 7, 2025 (ML25181A802).” (source)
• 2026-06-26 — Issued: “| Completed review of Framatome license amendment request (...ML26155A308) to increase the facility’s authorized maximum enrichment limit from 6.5 to up to 10.0 weight percent Uranium-235 in its Specialty Fuels Building. | 06/30/26 | 06/26/26 |” (source)

The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. See the NNN Data License Terms for reuse of the event history.

NNN coverage

Related reviews

• Framatome Richland site-wide enrichment limit increase from 5.0 to <6.5 wt% U-235 (Amendment 20) Issued · 10.7 mo
• Framatome Richland extension of criticality validation methodology and minimum margin of subcriticality to enrichments up to 20 wt% U-235 (Amendment 19) Issued · —
• American Centrifuge Plant Phase III HALEU operations for up to 9 years (to June 30, 2034) with possession limit increase (Amendment 29) Issued · 4.5 mo
• National Enrichment Facility amendment applying the <10 wt% LEU+ limit to recycling and support systems (LAR-24-01, Amendment 110) Issued · 8.1 mo
• American Centrifuge Plant continuation of HALEU operations to June 30, 2025 (Amendment 27) Issued · —
• National Enrichment Facility amendment raising enrichment limit from 5.5 to <10 wt% U-235 (LEU+) for production systems (LAR-23-02, Amendment 105) Issued · 9.4 mo
• American Centrifuge Plant increase in HALEU possession limits to produce ~1,400 kg HALEU UF6 (Amendment 24) Issued · —
• American Centrifuge Plant extension of NRC-licensed HALEU operations to end of 2024 (Amendment 20) Issued · —

See all 75 reviews in the NRC Licensing Review Tracker →

Sources

1. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2619/ML26198A284.pdf
2. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2615/ML26155A310.pdf
3. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2615/ML26155A308.pdf
4. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/10/02/2025-19301/framatome-inc-framatome-fuel-fabrication-facility-license-amendment-application
5. https://www.framatome.com/medias/framatome-makes-major-progress-in-advanced-reactor-fuel-manufacturing-with-latest-us-nrc/