Urenco USA has completed the first commercial cylinder of low-enriched uranium plus (LEU+) at its Eunice facility in New Mexico. The announcement came on November 2, 2026. The company describes it as the first commercial production of LEU+ in the Western world.
LEU+ is uranium with a U-235 content between 5% and 10%. Standard low-enriched reactor fuel is limited to between 3% and 5%, while high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, ranges from 10% to 20%. LEU+ therefore occupies the middle band. According to the company, it allows reactors already in operation to run longer cycles between refuelling outages and to reduce operating and maintenance costs. Several advanced reactors under development plan to use it as fuel.
The path to this point has been gradual. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission amended the plant’s license in December 2024 and August 2025. On September 30, 2025, it granted authorization to enrich up to 10% U-235, making Eunice the first US commercial facility cleared for LEU+. All of the site’s centrifuge cascades fall under the license. On December 11, 2025, Urenco had completed an initial demonstration run at 8.5% U-235, with the goal of moving to commercial quantities in 2026.
Jody Blackshear, general manager of Urenco USA, said that reaching this milestone required extensive preparation of both the plant and its workforce. The site, operational since 2010, has an annual capacity of 4.3 million separative work units (SWU), roughly one third of current US demand. More than 500 employees and long-term contractors work there. Since the first shipment in 2012, every customer order has been delivered on time.
Investment is continuing. Urenco USA aims to exceed 7 million SWU of capacity over the next decade. Construction of a new enrichment plant will begin in 2029, adding 2.1 million SWU. The first cascades will enter production in 2032, with more to be installed through 2036. This capacity will also be able to produce LEU+.
For Europe and Italy, the signal is a concrete one. Developers of advanced reactors and SMRs need fuel with enrichment levels above 5%, and until now Western sources have been scarce. With LEU+ available on a commercial scale, reactor builders can plan their supply with an already licensed supplier and with volumes growing through 2036.
