GE-Hitachi to Establish New Facility for DOE Depleted Uranium Enrichment

GE-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment has proposed to establish a facility near the Energy Department‘s Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky to produce natural uranium that will be used as fuel for civil nuclear reactors.

DOE said Thursday it agreed to sell depleted uranium to GLE over a 40-year period and the company will enrich the metal at the future Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility.

“The sale contributes to two key Energy Department mission areas – to fulfill the federal government’s responsibility to manage the safe storage and disposal of nuclear materials and to enable nuclear power,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

“This agreement furthers the Energy Department’s environmental cleanup mission while reducing cleanup costs, creating good local jobs, and supporting an economical enrichment enterprise for our energy needs.”

GLE will finance the construction of PLEF and operate it as a commercial uranium enrichment production facility under a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license.