National Enrichment Facility amendment raising enrichment limit from 5.5 to <10 wt% U-235 (LEU+) for production systems (LAR-23-02, Amendment 105)

National Enrichment Facility amendment raising enrichment limit from 5.5 to <10 wt% U-235 (LEU+) for production systems (LAR-23-02, Amendment 105): NRC fuel-cycle amendment review for Louisiana Energy Services, LLC, dba Urenco USA — issued, 9.4 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

Decision before ORR: the amendment (12/11/2024) required an NRC operational readiness review before producing >5 wt%; production authorization issued Sept. 30, 2025. Hearing opportunity noticed only on 2024-10-08, i.e., ~7 months after acceptance. EA/FONSI Dec. 10, 2024. Submitted and accepted pre-ADVANCE Act; decided post. Urenco press release (secondary) confirms "On December 11, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) provided Urenco USA (UUSA) their approval". Licence/permit: SNM-2010.

Timeline

• 2023-11-30 — Application received: “The NRC has received, by letter dated November 30, 2023, an application from Louisiana Energy Services, LLC, dba Urenco USA, to amend materials license SNM-2010” (source)
• 2024-03-01 — Accepted for review (docketed): “As documented in an administrative completeness review, dated March 1, 2024, NRC found the application, as supplemented, acceptable for a technical review.” (source)
• 2024-12-11 — Issued: “ML24318C243 - Enclosure 3 - LES Amendment 105 for UUSA Request for Less Than 10 Weight Percent Uranium 235 (Public) (12/11/2024)” (source)

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

Also tracked

• Urenco USA National Enrichment Facility (Eunice) in the Uranium Enrichment & HALEU Tracker Expanding

Related reviews

• National Enrichment Facility amendment applying the <10 wt% LEU+ limit to recycling and support systems (LAR-24-01, Amendment 110) Issued · 8.1 mo
• 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) Issued · 11.6 mo
• Framatome Richland site-wide enrichment limit increase from 5.0 to <6.5 wt% U-235 (Amendment 20) Issued · 10.7 mo
• 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
• American Centrifuge Plant continuation of HALEU operations to June 30, 2025 (Amendment 27) Issued · —
• 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 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.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/10/08/2024-23264/louisiana-energy-services-llc-dba-urenco-usa-national-enrichment-facility-license-amendment
2. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2431/ML24318C240.pdf
3. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/12/10/2024-28929/louisiana-energy-services-llc-dba-urenco-usa-national-enrichment-facility-environmental-assessment
4. https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML2527/ML25272A288.pdf
5. https://www.urenco.com/news/usa/2024/urenco-usa-receives-approval-of-LAR-authorizing-10-enrichment