Orano USA and NABTU Sign Memorandum of Understanding to Support Construction of Project IKE Uranium Enrichment Facility

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 22, 2026 – Orano and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining their cooperative relationship to support the successful construction of Project IKE, Orano’s uranium enrichment facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The MOU reflects a shared commitment to complete the project on time and in accordance with commercial and government expectations by mobilizing a highly skilled, well-trained and productive construction workforce, and by fostering a collaborative labor‑management environment focused on safety, quality, and efficiency.

Project IKE is Orano’s development of a $5 billion facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to deliver new, diversified, and competitively priced U.S.-based production of enriched uranium beginning in the early 2030s.

The construction phase is expected to employ more than 1,000 workers.

“To help quickly establish a significant and secure nuclear fuel supply of enriched uranium for America’s reactor fleet, we need the Project IKE facility built on a deliberate timeline that’s only possible with a skilled and efficient workforce,” said Jean-Luc Palayer, CEO of Orano USA. “Our agreement with NABTU defines and assures that our work relationship is based on productivity, quality, and cooperation.”

“When it comes to complex nuclear projects, America turns to the Building Trades because we deliver,” said Sean McGarvey, President of North America’s Building Trades Unions. “Our three million members are trained for highly regulated, safety‑critical nuclear work, and they stand ready to build the next generation of America’s nuclear energy infrastructure. Project IKE represents the future of U.S. energy security, and this agreement ensures Orano has access to the safest, most highly trained nuclear construction workforce in the world to deliver this project on time and to the highest standards.”

Orano is developing an extensive American supply chain for designing and constructing the Project IKE facility, manufacturing and installing the extensive material-handling equipment and systems, and supporting the ongoing uranium enrichment operations.

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

Download this press release.

About Orano USA: Based in Bethesda, MD, with global headquarters in Paris, France, Orano is a leading technology and services provider for the commercial and federal nuclear industries. The company specializes in uranium mining/conversion/enrichment, used nuclear fuel management and recycling, federal site clean-up and closure, and developing nuclear medicines to fight cancer. For further information and interview requests, please contact OranoUSAComm@orano.group.

About NABTU:
North America’s Building Trades Unions is an alliance of 14 national and international unions in the building and construction industry collectively representing over 3 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada. Each year, our unions and signatory contractor partners invest over $2.5 billion in private-sector money to fund and operate over 1,900 apprenticeship training and education facilities across North America that produce the safest, most highly trained, and most productive, skilled craft workers anywhere in the world. NABTU is dedicated to creating economic security and employment opportunities for its construction workers by safeguarding wage and benefits standards, promoting responsible private capital investments, investing in renowned apprenticeship and training, and creating more construction career pathways to the middle class for women, communities of color, Indigenous people, veterans, and the justice-involved. For more information, please visit nabtu.org.

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