Generation Atomic indicated that rising energy prices and recent geopolitical events have demonstrated the importance of securing our nation’s energy supply.
While nuclear energy currently provides about one-half of the clean energy in the US, there is insufficient domestic and allied uranium enrichment capacity to meet the needs of the current fleet. Additionally, many of the advanced nuclear reactors under development make use of even higher fuel enrichment levels to achieve the improved fuel utilization and waste reduction benefits of their designs. This high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) is not yet available in the quantities needed to implement these new plants.
The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) instructed the Department of Energy (DOE) to address the HALEU shortage but only allocated funding through 2026. In late October of this year, the Biden Administration included a request of $2.2 billion for low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) enrichment capabilities as part of a list of funding priorities. Finally, H.R. 5718 aims to boost domestic HALEU production, ensure uranium supply for reactors, and create nuclear fuel security programs.
Contact your representatives and ask that they support the additional funding requests from the Whitehouse and DOE, as well as legislation like H.R. 5718, to ensure that the current and future nuclear plants have continued access to secure fuel supplies.
[For more information on uranium fuel supplies from the I2M Web Portal, see (here).]
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