US officials eye fuel supply for advanced nuclear reactors

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The development of commercial advanced nuclear reactors intended to help combat global warming and enhance national security will need a better supply of the right type of nuclear fuel, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The U.S. Department of Energy sent out a request to companies that might be interested in participating to send ideas concerning its plans to establish a program to ensure the availability of high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU.

Information received will be used to prepare a report for Congress. It could also lead to the Energy Department taking the next step and asking companies to submit more detailed plans on how they might supply the nuclear fuel.

The $1 trillion infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed last month contains $2.5 billion for the Energy Department to establish the HALEU Availability Program. The goal is to produce enough high-assay low-enriched uranium for civilian domestic research and commercial use in the next wave of advanced reactors currently in development.

“Advanced reactors are an incredible asset to have in our collective fight against climate change,” Dr. Kathryn Huff, principal deputy assistant secretary for the Energy Department's Office of Nuclear Energy, said in a statement. “If we don’t proactively take the steps now to ensure a sufficient and diverse supply of HALEU, then reactor demonstration and deployment projects, like those funded in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, won’t be fueled in time to help us slow the impacts of climate change.”

Efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing new technologies with nuclear power began during the Obama administration and have continued under both the Trump and Biden administrations.

The HALEU Availability Program "will help the U.S....