Orano Finishes Scheduled License Submission for Project IKE Uranium Enrichment Facility to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., March 27, 2026 – Following its Environmental Report (ER) submission in late January to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Orano completed the Project IKE license application today by submitting the technical portion of the application. Project IKE is a large gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility planned for Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The technical portion of the application includes the Integrated Safety Analysis (ISA), process safety information, and the analyses addressing criticality, chemical, and fire safety, as well as the required security and safeguards information.

“We are very pleased to have our entire Project IKE license submittal in the hands of the NRC for their acceptance review,” said Jean-Luc Palayer, CEO of Orano USA. “Our decades of experience safely and securely operating a uranium enrichment facility is foundational to every analysis, every design, and every process stated in our Project IKE license application. We look forward to timely engagement and progress with the NRC.”

“This major milestone is an exciting moment and the direct result of the diligent work and thousands of hours by our Project IKE team addressing each and every NRC requirement,” said Lionel Antognelli, Vice President, Engineering and Projects, Orano Enrichment USA. “Though designing and validating a modern uranium enrichment facility is not a common activity, Orano is one of the few companies that has done so and the only one within the last 20 years. We were able to draw on our global expertise and unique experience of having built and operated a state-of-the-art centrifuge enrichment facility in France and, now, its ongoing expansion.”

For more than 40 years, Orano has supplied enriched uranium to the U.S. reactor fleet from its facilities in France. By bringing proven enrichment capabilities to the U.S., the certainty of delivery and significant output of enriched uranium from Project IKE would help establish a robust American nuclear fuel supply and enhance national energy security.

Named in reference to President Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower’s landmark 1953 “Atoms for Peace” address to the United Nations calling for the establishment of a robust nuclear energy industry, the Project IKE development began in September 2024 with the State of Tennessee’s announcement that Orano had selected Oak Ridge as the preferred site for its facility.

Learn more about Project IKE: https://www.orano.group/usa/project-ike-enrichment

Concept rendering of Orano’s planned Project IKE facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.