First American Nuclear Co. — known as FANCO — has received official registration of its Regulatory Engagement Plan from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The document covers a Category II HALEU (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium) deconversion and fuel fabrication facility, designed to supply its EAGL-1 modular reactor as well as other customers in the advanced reactor market.
The regulatory engagement plan opens formal dialogue with the NRC ahead of the license application filing. FANCO notified the agency through a letter of intent dated August 6, 2026, stating its intention to seek a license under 10 CFR Part 70 to construct, own, and operate the facility. The goal is to produce ceramic uranium oxide fuel — a well-established form factor that avoids the risks associated with novel fuel designs. The license application itself is expected in the fourth quarter of 2027.
The facility is not conceived solely for internal use. FANCO aims to serve other advanced reactor operators requiring HALEU fuel, a segment that currently has virtually no domestic production capacity in the United States. The decision to build this infrastructure on American soil follows a clear strategic rationale: reducing dependence on foreign suppliers in a critical sector. As CEO Mike Reinboth put it, “America’s ability to deploy advanced nuclear energy at scale depends on a secure, American fuel supply chain.”
The EAGL-1 is a Generation IV SMR cooled by lead-bismuth eutectic, fast-spectrum, designed for factory fabrication and multi-unit deployment. Lead-bismuth cooling offers superior thermal performance compared to liquid sodium, without the chemical reactivity issues with air or water. This eliminates the need for an intermediate heat transfer loop, with a direct positive impact on capital costs. The four-loop primary system operates at atmospheric pressure and is enclosed in a containment vessel, with all pipe penetrations positioned above the fuel rods. Decay heat removal is entirely passive: no operator action is required in an emergency.
EAGL-1 has been designed to be licensable within the NRC’s existing regulatory framework, without requiring bespoke new standards. To support the pre-licensing process, FANCO is building a lead-bismuth test loop that will provide the agency with real experimental data — not just computational models. The newly registered Regulatory Engagement Plan formalizes the company’s commitment to open and ongoing dialogue with the NRC throughout the pre-application phase, with the long-term objective of achieving design certification and commercial standardization.
If the roadmap holds, the 2027 license application could position FANCO among the first players to operate a fully American HALEU fuel supply chain integrated with its own Generation IV reactor. That would be a structural advantage in a market where adequate fuel availability remains the most tangible bottleneck for anyone genuinely seeking to bring SMRs to commercial operation.
