HALEU and uranium enrichment tracker

Questions

What is HALEU and what is it used for?

High-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) is uranium enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium-235, above the under-5% fuel used in most of today's reactors. Many advanced reactor and microreactor designs need it to run longer between refuelings and fit more power into a smaller core.

Which companies produce HALEU?

Centrus Energy's cascade in Piketon, Ohio is the only US enrichment plant that has produced HALEU, more than 1,900 kg by June 2026. DOE also recovers HALEU from government material at Savannah River and Idaho National Laboratory. General Matter in Paducah, Kentucky, Urenco's planned Capenhurst plant in the UK and Nusano are building or planning new HALEU capacity; see each record for status.

What is the difference between HALEU and LEU?

Both are low-enriched uranium. Conventional LEU for today's light-water reactors is enriched below 5% U-235, LEU+ runs from 5% to 10%, and HALEU covers 5% to 20%. Above 20%, uranium is classed as highly enriched.

How many uranium enrichment plants are there in the United States?

One commercial plant operates at scale: Urenco USA in Eunice, New Mexico, which supplies about a third of US commercial enrichment demand. Centrus's Piketon cascade produces HALEU. Orano (Oak Ridge, Tennessee), Global Laser Enrichment and General Matter (both Paducah, Kentucky) have plants in licensing.

How much HALEU has Centrus produced?

Centrus reported more than 1,900 kg of HALEU produced at Piketon under its DOE demonstration contract, which finished in June 2026. In January 2026 DOE awarded its subsidiary American Centrifuge Operating a $900 million task order to expand HALEU enrichment capacity.

What is the DOE HALEU Availability Program?

A DOE Office of Nuclear Energy program created by the Energy Act of 2020 to supply HALEU from government stocks to advanced reactor developers while commercial enrichment is built. DOE made conditional HALEU commitments to nine recipients over three rounds, in April 2025, August 2025 and July 2026.

Who won DOE's 2026 enrichment task orders?

On 5 January 2026 DOE finalized three task orders of $900 million each under its $2.7 billion enrichment program: American Centrifuge Operating (Centrus) and General Matter for HALEU, and Orano Federal Services for LEU. Global Laser Enrichment separately received $28 million.