News
Urenco showcases advanced reactor and fuelling capabilities
15 April 2019
Urenco’s capability in developing advanced fuels and a micro modular reactor were presented at the International SMR and Advanced Reactor Summit in Atlanta.
Karen Fili, President and CEO of our US site, UUSA, was a key speaker at the event last month and discussed how Urenco can address the High Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HA-LEU) requirements of the advanced reactor community.
This follows the recent announcement of UUSA’s capability in the provision of HA-LEU, for civil, peaceful applications in existing and new power plants as well as for research, test and medical isotopes facilities.
Urenco is also leading a consortium developing a micro nuclear reactor, U-Battery, and the programme’s General Manager, Steve Threlfall, was part of a Natural Resources Canada led vendor panel at the summit. Steve presented on developments in the previous 12 months since his last presentation to this conference and how U-Battery can address the energy needs of remote communities in one of the key initial markets, Canada.
Urenco and U-Battery jointly exhibited at the event and welcomed the opportunity to engage with an audience of around 400 people. Urenco’s Head of Business Development, David Fletcher, also attended.
Steve said:
“The Atlanta summit is a great opportunity to discuss with key stakeholders the progress Urenco and U-Battery are making in area of developing an advanced reactor and fuelling these technologies. The momentum around U-Battery is building rapidly with completion of the first phase of the UK Government’s Advanced Modular Reactor programme and the release of the Canadian Roadmap for Small Modular Reactors.”
David added:
“In relation to advanced, or next generation fuels, Urenco is exploring the construction of a dedicated HA-LEU unit. Further activity is also underway to support the near-term delivery of slightly greater than 5% uranium (U235) enrichments for existing light water reactors interested in higher burn-up rates and/or extended operating cycles.”
About U-Battery
U-Battery is an advanced/small modular reactor, capable of providing a low-carbon, cost-effective, locally embedded and reliable source of power and heat for energy intensive industry and remote locations. It is being developed by Urenco in collaboration with a number of supporting organisations and has received funding from the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy's Energy Innovation Portfolio.
