A DOE Office of Nuclear Energy program, created under the Energy Act of 2020, to supply HALEU to advanced reactor developers from government stocks while commercial enrichment is built. DOE has made three rounds of conditional HALEU commitments (April 2025, August 2025, July 2026) to nine recipients, drawing on NNSA material and downblended HEU.
New to HALEU and enrichment? HALEU, explained: the fuel advanced reactors need · The U.S. nuclear fuel supply chain, explained
Current state
| Status | Program active |
| Country | United States |
| Operator | US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy |
| Facility type | Government program |
| Products | HALEU |
| Government support | Energy Act of 2020 mandate; FY2024 NDAA schedule (3 t by 30 Sep 2024, 8 t by 31 Dec 2025, 10 t by 30 Jun 2026); DOE allocation process (Sept 2024) aimed to make 21 t available by 30 Jun 2026. |
| Offtake | Round 1 (Apr 2025): TRISO-X (X-energy), TerraPower, Kairos Power, Radiant Industries, Westinghouse. Round 2 (Aug 26, 2025): Antares Nuclear, Standard Nuclear, Abilene Christian University/Natura Resources. Round 3 (Jul 23, 2026): NASA (SR-1 Freedom Mars mission) and Radiant (second allocation, microreactor at Buckley Space Force Base). Quantities per recipient not disclosed. |
Notes
DOE has not disclosed per-recipient quantities or whether the 21 t by June 2026 goal was met. DOE estimates US HALEU demand could reach 50 t/yr by 2035 (FAQ). Supply sources include NNSA surplus material at Y-12, SRS and INL plus Centrus output; tracked separately in savannah-river-h-canyon-haleu-downblending, inl-ebr-ii-haleu-recovery and centrus-american-centrifuge-plant-piketon.
Timeline
- 2024-09 — DOE finalized its HALEU allocation process. (source)
- 2025-04-10 — DOE made first-round conditional HALEU commitments to five developers after receiving requests from 15 companies. (source)
- 2025-08-26 — DOE announced a second round of HALEU commitments to three recipients. (source)
- 2026-07-23 — DOE announced a third round of HALEU commitments to NASA and Radiant. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
NNN coverage
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Related facilities
- BWXT DUECE Pilot Plant (Erwin) Planned · United States
- Centrus American Centrifuge Plant (Piketon HALEU cascade and expansion) Expanding · United States
- DOE HALEU Deconversion Services contracts Program active · United States
- DOE LEU and HALEU Enrichment Acquisition Program (task orders) Program active · United States
- General Matter Paducah Enrichment Facility Licensing · United States
- Global Laser Enrichment Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) Licensing · United States
- Idaho National Laboratory EBR-II fuel HALEU recovery Program active · United States
- LIS Technologies laser enrichment plant (Oak Ridge) Planned · United States
See all 29 facilities in the Uranium Enrichment & HALEU Tracker →
Sources
- HALEU Availability Program — US Department of Energy (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Energy Department to Distribute Third Round of HALEU to NASA and Radiant — US Department of Energy (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- DOE selects first recipients of HALEU — World Nuclear News, checked 2026-10-11
- DOE allocates second round of HALEU fuel to three U.S. nuclear companies — POWER Magazine, checked 2026-10-11
- HALEU Frequently Asked Questions — US Department of Energy (primary), checked 2026-10-11