USA: DoE offers US$2bn loans for uranium enrichment to support new build

The US Department of Energy has awarded a US$2bn conditional loan guarantee for a “front-end” nuclear facility in Idaho, which will provide uranium enrichment services for the nuclear power sector. The plant is to be constructed by France’s Areva.

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu in a press release said that: “”Increasing uranium enrichment in the United States is critical to the nation’s energy and national security… Existing reactors will need additional sources of enriched uranium soon. New nuclear plants that could start to come online as early as 2016 will also need a steady, reliable source of uranium enrichment services. Areva’s project will help to meet that demand.”

The US$3bn project, known as the Eagle Rock Enrichment facility will need to be licensed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, before the loan guarantee can be fully approved. The licence is expected to be granted in 2011. The facility will employ advanced centrifuge technology to reduce the amount of power needed. According to Areva, if all goes well, construction could start in 2011 and the plant could be up and running in 2014.

In addition to the US$2bn loan guarantee for the Eagle Rock project, the Department of Energy has released an additional US$2bn to further support uranium enrichment and US$38m in awards for 42 nuclear R&D projects at US colleges and universities.

Currently, the US receives half its enriched uranium from Russia as part of a “Megatons for MegaWatts” programme, in which decommissioned nuclear warheads are converted into fuel suitable for nuclear power plants. It is due to expire in 2013.