What moved in the nuclear fuel cycle this week
Home • Top Stories • November 6, 2026
This week
This week’s items span enrichment, fuel fabrication, cladding, operating-fleet uprates and a DOE microreactor authorization step. Each was kept because it records a durable fact. Entries run newest first. Each gives what the source reported, the constraint the announcement left out, and the context and history behind it.
Centrus says it is enriching commercial HALEU as DOE cascade funding ends
November 4, 2026. Centrus Energy · The Front End
What was reported. In its third-quarter results, Centrus said it is enriching high-assay low-enriched uranium for the commercial market from its existing 16-centrifuge cascade at Piketon, Ohio. The company also said the proposed DOE fiscal year 2027 budget does not include further funding to operate that cascade under the HALEU Operation Contract, and that DOE has said it does not currently intend to exercise further options under the contract, which Centrus lists as about $0.8 billion of Technical Solutions backlog. Separately, on October 29 Centrus said it had completed and begun shipping the first new AC-100M centrifuge from Oak Ridge to Piketon for final assembly, with first new capacity still expected in 2029. [1]
What it left out. The commercial HALEU claim gives no output volume, assay within the HALEU range, customer or product form. Contingent LEU and HALEU sales commitments tied to the Piketon expansion are $5.4 billion, of which $5.1 billion are under definitive agreements, and those commitments depend on operational milestones. Centrus lists a long-term extension of its Piketon lease from DOE as a key risk.
The rest of the story. The existing cascade has produced HALEU under DOE contract since late 2023. Commercial sales from that cascade would mark a shift from government-funded demonstration output to market supply, at a small scale set by 16 machines. New cascades are still years away. HALEU Is Not One Product.
PSEG and Constellation plan a ~200 MW Salem uprate as Unit 1’s outage stretches
November 2–5, 2026. PSEG · The Reactor
What was reported. PSEG’s third-quarter materials say PSEG Power and Constellation plan an about 200 megawatt uprate at the jointly owned Salem plant in New Jersey, with PSEG’s share about 112 megawatts and the rest with Constellation in support of Constellation’s Google power-purchase agreement. In the same reporting cycle, PSEG’s Form 10-Q said an October visual inspection during Salem Unit 1’s refueling outage found degradation of the reactor-vessel thermal shield, that further testing is under way, and that the outage is expected to be extended. No restart date was given. PSEG also said it has notified the NRC of its intent to seek 20-year license extensions for Salem and Hope Creek. [2]
What it left out. The uprate is planned, not completed or licensed. The filing does not say how long the outage will last or what repairs will be required. Thermal-shield findings also appeared at Salem in earlier years, so aging internals can affect timing for any uprate.
The rest of the story. Existing-fleet uprates remain the near-term path for adding nuclear megawatts under data-center contracts. Salem’s case pairs a capacity plan with an operating constraint on the same site. What the Data-Center Deals Commit the Fuel Cycle To.
Urenco USA produces its first commercial LEU+ cylinder
November 2, 2026. Urenco USA · The Front End
What was reported. Urenco USA said it completed production of its first commercial product cylinder of low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+, 5–10% uranium-235) at Eunice, New Mexico, and described the result as the first commercial LEU+ production in the Western world. All cascades at the plant are NRC-licensed to under 10%. The company plans a new 2.1 million SWU plant with construction starting in 2029 and first cascades in 2032, toward more than 7 million SWU. An Urenco USA spokesperson later told ANS Nuclear Newswire that the first customer shipment is planned for late spring 2027, and that the sixth of eight new Eunice cascades came online in October. [3]
What it left out. The assay produced, the customer and the fabricator are undisclosed. Fabrication and transport of material above 5% still need their own license amendments and package approvals. LEU+ is not HALEU; HALEU at 10–20% still needs a separate facility and NRC authorization.
The rest of the story. LEU+ is the enrichment band already licensed at Category III fabricators that have amendments above 5%, including Global Nuclear Fuel–Americas up to 8% and Framatome’s Richland plant for production planned in 2027. Beyond Five Percent. HALEU Is Not One Product.
BWXT’s third quarter: Pele hardware, TRISO capacity and a HALEU gate
November 2, 2026. BWX Technologies · The Front End
What was reported. BWXT reported third-quarter revenue of $953.0 million and said it completed the core barrel assembly for the Defense Department’s Project Pele microreactor, with delivery to Idaho National Laboratory planned next year. On the November 2 earnings call, CEO Rex Geveden said the Lynchburg TRISO line produces a couple of hundred kilograms a year—enough for Pele’s full core, the Antares demonstration and other undisclosed customers—and that technology changes, added capacity and operating improvements could at least quadruple that output. He said a larger Wyoming plant at multiple metric tons would need both concrete demand, including Kairos’s Hermes and further BANR orders, and commercial HALEU availability. The company also booked a $189 million annual naval fuel contract and is negotiating the next multiyear pricing agreement. [4]
What it left out. The earnings release itself is thin on TRISO volumes and HALEU feedstock. Call remarks on Lynchburg capacity and the Wyoming decision gates are company statements, not independently verified production data. The Antares TRISO agreement (initial 1 metric ton of uranium) was already covered in the October 30 Top Stories and is not restated here as news.
The rest of the story. Pele remains a TRISO-fueled transportable reactor under DOE and Defense Department schedules. BWXT’s framing ties near-term TRISO growth to the existing Lynchburg line and ties any greenfield scale-up to HALEU supply that the commercial market still barely provides. HALEU Is Not One Product.
Copenhagen Atomics and Urenco sign a UF6-to-UF4 design MoU
October 30, 2026. Copenhagen Atomics · The Front End
What was reported. Copenhagen Atomics and Urenco signed a memorandum of understanding to design a UF6-to-UF4 deconversion line at Copenhagen Atomics’ fuel-salt facility in Denmark. Copenhagen Atomics said LEU is supplied as UF6 while molten-salt reactors need UF4, that it has bought LEU from Urenco for its first reactors, and that it plans to make fuel salts for its own reactors and for other MSR developers. [5]
What it left out. The MoU covers design. Capacity, enrichment level, schedule and the Danish licensing route for an enriched-uranium chemical facility are not stated. No production of fluoride fuel salt is reported.
The rest of the story. Western conversion and deconversion capacity for advanced-reactor chemistries is still thin. A design line for UF4 is a supply-chain step, not a fuel product on the shelf. Conversion and Deconversion. HALEU Is Not One Product.
Framatome opens a chromium-coating pilot for PROtect ATF cladding
October 29, 2026. Framatome · The Reactor
What was reported. Framatome inaugurated a €30 million industrial pilot at Paimboeuf, France, that applies chromium to zirconium-alloy cladding tubes by physical vapor deposition for its PROtect accident-tolerant fuel. The line is designed for more than 100,000 coated tubes a year. Framatome said industrial qualification is planned by the end of 2026 and production from early 2027. The company says lead assemblies and rods have already run in reactors including Gösgen, Vogtle and Calvert Cliffs. [6]
What it left out. Regulators still must license coated cladding for batch reload use. The announcement does not cite new irradiation results that close that licensing step. Chromium coating is an LWR cladding change, not a new fuel class.
The rest of the story. Accident-tolerant cladding aims at slower oxidation and less hydrogen in loss-of-cooling sequences. Any later use with higher burnup or LEU+ still depends on separate fuel and plant licensing. Framatome’s Richland plant already holds an NRC amendment for LEU+ fabrication planned in 2027; coated cladding for reload use is a separate licensing track.
DOE approves Radiant’s Kaleidos DSA for operation at power
October 29, 2026. Radiant · The Path Forward
What was reported. Radiant said the Department of Energy approved the Documented Safety Analysis for its Kaleidos microreactor test in the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) facility at Idaho National Laboratory. Radiant says the approval covers initial criticality and operation at power, and that the next step is a DOE Readiness Review before nuclear operations can begin. After that review, Radiant plans to fuel Kaleidos and run a five-phase campaign targeting 60 effective full-power days, including at least 150 hours of continuous full-power operation without operator intervention. Radiant said DOE approved its Preliminary Documented Safety Analysis in February 2026 and that the unit shipped from El Segundo to INL in August 2026. [7]
What it left out. A DSA approval is not fuel load and not criticality. Radiant gives no date for the Readiness Review or for the start of testing. The reactor is not fueled and has not gone critical.
The rest of the story. DOME is a DOE-authorized test bed, not an NRC-licensed commercial plant. Results may later support licensing arguments, but commercial units still face NRC review. The Path Forward.
Spot an error? Suggest a correction
See also: Glossary | Companies and Participants | The Book
Notes
1. Centrus Energy, “Centrus Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results,” November 4, 2026. https://investors.centrusenergy.com/news-releases/news-release-details/centrus-reports-third-quarter-2026-results ; Centrus Energy, “Centrus Begins Shipping Centrifuges to Ohio to Support Major Expansion of Uranium Enrichment Capacity,” October 29, 2026. https://www.centrusenergy.com/news/centrus-begins-shipping-centrifuges-to-ohio-to-support-major-expansion-of-uranium-enrichment-capacity/ ↩
2. Utility Dive, “PSEG Power plans 200-MW nuclear uprate as company eyes data center deals,” November 3, 2026. https://www.utilitydive.com/news/pseg-power-nuclear-uprate-salem-data-center-earnings/873587/ ; ANS Nuclear Newswire, “Salem power plant planning 200-MW uprate,” November 5, 2026. https://www.ans.org/news/article-8561/salem-power-plant-planning-200mw-uprate/ (both citing PSEG Q3 materials and Form 10-Q). ↩
3. Urenco USA, “Urenco USA Produces First Commercial Cylinder of LEU+,” November 2, 2026. https://www.urenco.com/news/usa/2026/urenco-usa-produces-first-commercial-cylinder-of-leu-plus ; ANS Nuclear Newswire, “Urenco touts first cylinder of LEU+ for commercial use,” November 4, 2026. https://www.ans.org/news/2026-11-04/article-8556/urenco-touts-first-cylinder-of-leu-for-commercial-use/ ↩
4. BWX Technologies, “BWX Technologies Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results,” November 2, 2026. https://bwxt.gcs-web.com/news-releases/news-release-details/bwx-technologies-reports-third-quarter-2026-results ; Motley Fool transcript of BWXT Q3 2026 earnings call, November 2, 2026. https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/11/02/bwxt-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript/ ↩
5. Copenhagen Atomics, “Copenhagen Atomics and Urenco to Develop Danish Uranium Deconversion Facility,” October 30, 2026 (posted November 2, 2026). https://copenhagenatomics.com/news/ca-urenco-to-develop-uranium-deconversion-facility/ ↩
6. World Nuclear News, “Framatome inaugurates chromium-coating facility,” October 30, 2026. https://world-nuclear-news.org/articles/framatome-inaugurates-chromium-coating-facility (Framatome inauguration statements via WNN; Framatome.com primary page not retrieved this draft). ↩
7. Radiant, “Radiant Achieves Industry Milestone as the Only Microreactor Design to Secure DOE Safety Analysis Approval for Full Power Operations,” October 29, 2026. https://www.radiantnuclear.com/news/radiant-secure-doe-approval-for-full-power-operations ↩
Leave a Reply