Orano and NRD, LLC, enter into a partnership agreement to expand Americium-241 production capacity and capabilities
25 JUNE 2025 – The Orano group, a recognized leading operator in nuclear fuel cycle materials production and management, and NRD, LLC (“NRD”) an industry leader and innovator
in advanced nuclear materials fabrication, production, and synthesis which includes more than 55 years of experience in supply chain management and manufacturing Americium-241 foil, announce a strategic partnership aimed at significantly expanding
production capacity of Americium-241, a critical resource used in applications from clean energy to advanced manufacturing, space and other major industries.
The partnership reflects a shared commitment to future industry needs for Americium-241. Together, Orano and NRD will leverage their respective strengths to ensure Americium-241 industrial production can scale to meet long-term market
needs driven by innovation, market growth, and global demand.
In particular, Orano will rely on its proven industrial treatment and recycling capabilities implemented at its La Hague site in Normandy, France, which can extract radionuclides, including Americium-241, from used nuclear fuel processed
on-site.
The new partnership will see both companies invest respectively in their own facilities, R&D, logistics, and process improvements to enable a scalable, efficient, and sustainable production.
Shel Alfiero, CEO of NRD, LLC, said: “The partnership combines NRD’s 55 years of Americium-241 transformation expertise and Orano’s extensive infrastructure and nuclear fuel cycle capacity and capabilities to address a growing crisis: the severely constrained supply of Americium-241. With expanded production capacity, industries dependent on Americium-241 will no longer be as restricted by resource availability.”
Corinne Spilios, senior executive vice president of Orano’s Recycling Business Unit, said: “By combining our expertise and capabilities, we are not just working to increase volume, we’re increasing value. We’re ensuring the infrastructure is in place not just to satisfy today’s requirements, but also to meet the opportunities of tomorrow. NRD is a trusted and capable partner with a long history and deep expertise in global supply chain management and advanced manufacturing, including work with Americium-241. We look forward to what we can accomplish together.”
Jean-Luc Palayer, CEO of Orano USA, said: “We welcome this partnership with NRD as another opportunity for Orano to bring its global expertise to enable and accelerate production of needed nuclear material in the U.S. and around the world. Increased interest for recycling the more than 94% of available material in used nuclear fuel directly supports new initiatives to put those valuable isotopes to work and to significantly reduce the amount of waste requiring disposal. The potential for commercial production of Americium-241 with NRD is another example of this innovative, strategic thinking.”
See how Americium-241 can be gleaned from used nuclear fuel
About NRD, LLC
NRD, LLC, is a global leader in the fabrication and supply of advanced nuclear materials, with over 55 years of expertise in Americium-241 based foils and related technologies. Organizations worldwide rely on NRD for
its capabilities and commitment to deliver time-sensitive solutions, superior performance, and results that maximize productivity and minimize costs. As an ISO 9001-certified manufacturer, NRD serves customers across a broad spectrum of industries,
including clean energy, aerospace, and scientific research. NRD is recognized for its commitment to safety, regulatory compliance, precision manufacturing, and supply chain excellence, delivering high-performance solutions that exceed customer expectations
in the world’s most demanding applications.
About Orano
As a recognized international leading operator in the field of nuclear materials, Orano delivers solutions to address present and future global energy and health challenges. Its expertise and mastery
of cutting-edge technologies enable Orano to offer its customers high value-added products and services throughout the entire nuclear fuel cycle. Every day, the Orano group’s 17,500 employees draw on their skills, unwavering dedication to safety,
and constant quest for innovation, with the commitment to develop know-how in the transformation and control of nuclear materials, for the climate and for a healthy and resource-efficient world, now and tomorrow.
Orano, giving nuclear energy its full value.
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