GE-Hitachi moves on laser enrichment

Decision to build a full-scale facility could come in 2009

While Areva is still silent on a decision whether and where to build a uranium enrichment plant at one of five potential sites in the U.S., Global Laser Enrichment (GLE), a subsidiary of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), has announced it has selected GEH's Wilmington, NC, headquarters site for a potential commercial uranium enrichment facility.

"This is a key milestone in GLE's development process," said Tammy Orr, President and CEO of Global Laser Enrichment. "With the selection of the Wilmington site for a potential commercial facility, we can now move forward with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) licensing process."

GEH has exclusive rights to develop, commercialize and launch this third-generation uranium enrichment technology on a global basis, under a 2006 agreement with the original developer, the Australian company Silex Systems Ltd.

Before moving ahead with full-scale production plans, GLE will first evaluate the results of a demonstration test loop, which is currently under construction, and obtain an NRC license to build and operate the commercial plant. Commercial licensing activities are currently underway to support a projected start-up date of 2012.

The commercial GLE facility would have a target capacity of between 3.5 and six million separative work units (SWUs). GEH intends to make a final decision on the construction of the facility in early 2009. The planned GEH plant would result in the creation of hundreds of new technical, operational and support jobs at the site between now and 2012.

The laser enrichment isotope separation technology allows GEH to become further integrated in the nuclear fuel cycle. Wilmington-based Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas (GNF-A), a joint venture of GE, Hitachi and Toshiba, is involved in the fuel cycle. GNF's site currently receives low enriched uranium, which is then used to fabricate fuel bundles for commercial nuclear power plants. The commercial GLE enrichment facility could potentially become a supplier of low enriched uranium to the Wilmington GNF fabrication facility.

Reference: prior coverage on this blog

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