Framatome to supply world's first higher-enriched nuclear fuel to US reactor

Framatome has signed a commercial contract to deliver the world’s first nuclear fuel reload with uranium-235 enrichment exceeding the industry standard of 5% to an operating reactor in the United States. Part of the company’s Advanced Fuel Management (AFM) programme, the agreement involves supplying higher enriched fuel, known as LEU+, which can contain up to 10% U-235.

Deliveries are scheduled to begin in early 2028 from Framatome’s facility in Richland, Washington. The facility has undergone four years of upgrades to support this technology and has received approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the fabrication of fuel assemblies with higher enrichment and burnup limits.

The new fuel design aims to improve economic performance for reactor operators by allowing for longer operating cycles. By increasing the concentration of fissile uranium, reactors may be able to extend cycles from 18 months to 24 months, reducing the frequency of refueling outages. Additionally, higher burnup limits allow operators to extract more energy from each fuel assembly, potentially reducing waste per megawatt-hour produced.