Project Ike Enrichment
The uranium enrichment center will be a multi-structure commercial production site covering approximately 750,000 square feet, making it one of the largest in North America. Facility operations will create an estimated 305 new direct jobs in Roane County.
For many years, Orano has provided uranium fuel to utilities in the U.S. and around the world. Orano has more than 60 years of industrial experience in uranium conversion, chemistry and enrichment and recently modernized its facilities for decades more of reliable operations and supply.
Orano currently provides 12% of global uranium enrichment capacity through its Tricastin fuel enrichment site in France and is expanding that capacity by 30% to help meet global demand.
Our focus is to ensure that our nuclear utility customers can reliably perform their mission of generating steady and clean electricity – like TVA. This energy is vitally important to power our daily lives and energize economic development.
A sufficient, reliable, domestic fuel supply is an increasing national security imperative.
30 years ago, the United States was the world leader in producing enriched uranium. Today, the U.S. produces only one-third of what it needs.
America now imports 30% of its enriched uranium from sources that are increasingly less desirable and even restricted.
This cannot continue – and Orano is taking action.
Proactive funding actions by Congress and the U.S. Department of Energy and clear Customer interest enabled Orano to make the significant decision to pursue an enrichment facility in the U.S.
The warm welcome, responsive engagement, and established nuclear energy community in Oak Ridge, as well as access to continuous and stable power, have been key factors for the site selection.
This announcement was a commencement – there is still work to be done and milestones to be met – but we have taken the first significant step forward to respond to our nation’s critical need for an increased, reliable domestic supply of enriched uranium.
FAQs
What is happening?
Orano USA selected Oak Ridge, Tennessee, as the preferred site for establishing a multi-billion-dollar uranium enrichment facility. With this significant milestone achieved, preparations are underway for
the next required steps, including securing available Federal support and customer commitments, and obtaining an NRC license and Orano’s Board approval.
Who is Orano USA?
With U.S. headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, and 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, decommissioning shutdown nuclear energy facilities, federal site clean-up and closure, and developing nuclear medicines to fight cancer. Orano has more than 60 years
of industrial experience in uranium conversion, chemistry and enrichment and recently modernized its facilities for decades more of reliable operations and supply. Orano currently provides 12% of global uranium enrichment capacity through its fuel
enrichment site in France.
Where is the site?
The selected preferred site is in Roane County near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on greenfield property owned by the Department of Energy across the street from the Horizon Industrial Center and surrounding the Oak Ridge
Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC). Along with this photo of the property, see the DOE graphic, below.
What criteria were involved in the siting decision?
Key criteria included the world-class, reliable power supply available from TVA, strong community and state support, remarkable educational systems providing employee pipelines, available qualified workforce, and environmental considerations.
How large is the planned facility?
The initial facility concept is a footprint of 750,000 square feet. Ultimately, the design and capacity of the enrichment facility will be dependent on customer demand and market needs.
How would this project benefit the local community?
Building and operating this new facility would bring many benefits to the local community, including hundreds of jobs, a new supply chain of local vendors and small businesses,
expanded tax base, and cooperation with regional technical and education institutions to develop a robust pipeline of skilled and professional workers.
How soon will the facility begin operations?
With the timely completion of required milestones, operations could begin in the early 2030s.
How many jobs will be created?
An estimated 305 jobs would be created at the facility.
What types of jobs are in an enrichment facility?
The jobs are a mix of professional and skilled workers, including management, engineers, safety professionals, laboratory technicians, training personnel, maintenance staff, health
physics technicians, security force personnel, and transportation specialists.
What does a uranium enrichment facility do?
The uranium enrichment process is one of the steps in producing fuel for nuclear reactors. Current U.S. commercial light water nuclear reactors are powered with fuel containing 3-6% of
uranium-235, depending on their designs. When raw uranium is mined, it consists of approximately 99.3% uranium-238, 0.7% uranium-235, and < 0.01% uranium-234. The enrichment process increases the percentage of uranium-235 in the fuel material,
called uranium hexafluoride (UF6). Once the UF6 is enriched to the desired percentage of uranium-235, it is sent to a fuel fabricator to create the specific fuel form for loading into the different types of reactors.
How much enriched uranium will be produced?
The output of an enrichment facility is measured in kilograms of “separative work units” (SWU), which is a calculation standardizing many enrichment process variables into a comparable number. This facility will be designed for annual full production capacity of several million SWU. For reference in 2023, U.S. utilities purchased 15 million SWU from domestic and international providers (EIA).
How high will the uranium be enriched?
Based on customer demand and federal support, this facility will be designed for uranium enrichment encompassing both low-enriched uranium (LEU) up to 6% and LEU+ up to 8%, and could be enhanced to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium
(HALEU) for fueling certain advanced reactors.
Is Oak Ridge National Lab involved in this project?
No, ORNL is not directly involved with our project.
Is TVA involved in this project?
No, TVA is not directly involved with our project, though access to its steady power supply was a significant factor in the siting decision and utilities would be customers of this facility's production.
Is this project part of the NNSA’s DEUCE program?
No, this project is not part of the NNSA’s Domestic Uranium Enrichment Centrifuge Experiment (DUECE) program, developed and managed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
Our facility is focused only on enriching uranium for commercial nuclear energy, while the DEUCE program is intended to advance uranium enrichment expertise and technology for U.S. national security needs.
Why is this enrichment facility development code-named Project Ike?
"Project Ike" relates to President "Ike" Eisenhower and his historic Atoms for Peace speech to
the United Nations about using atomic energy for peaceful means and the public good.
Resources
Orano Enrichment & Processing
https://www.orano.group/en/nuclear-expertise/from-exploration-to-recycling/international-expert-in-uranium-processing
NRC – Uranium Enrichment
https://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/ur-enrichment.html
Press release, 9/04/2024 - Governor Lee, Commissioner McWhorter Announce Orano USA Seeks to Locate Uranium Enrichment Operations in Oak Ridge, TN Economic & Community Development
Press release, 10/26/2023 - Orano Announces 30% Increase in Uranium Enrichment Capacity by 2028
