Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) has presented its Safety Analysis Report (SAR) for the planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This follows its submission in December of 2024 of the Environmental Report. now completing GLE’s full license application has now been completed for NRC review.
GLE is seeking a license from the NRC for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) to re-enrich depleted uranium tails from legacy Department of Energy (DOE) gaseous diffusion plant operations to provide a new source of domestic uranium, conversion, and enrichment production.
In August of last year, the NRC approved GLE’s request to separate the submittal of the Environmental Report (ER) and the SAR request. GLE said that the early submission of the ER was expected to “facilitate a more efficient and timely licensing review process”.
GLE submitted the ER to the NRC in late December of last year. The ER details the significant benefits of the project, including accelerating environmental cleanup efforts at the former Paducah gaseous diffusion plant through depleted uranium tails re-enrichment under a 2016 agreement between GLE and the Department of Energy. The project supports carbon emissions reduction by providing a new domestic source of uranium, conversion, and enriched uranium to existing and new nuclear reactors, job creation for West Kentucky, and energy security.
GLE has now submitted the SAR, which provides a comprehensive evaluation of the facility’s safety measures, operational protocols, and risk mitigation strategies, ensuring compliance with the NRC’s stringent regulatory standards for nuclear safety and security.
Stephen Long is the CEO of GLE. He said, “This achievement reflects the significant commitment, dedication, and ingenuity of our remarkably talented team, who worked to prepare and deliver a high-quality application in a very short timeframe, six months ahead of schedule. GLE’s unique capabilities position the PLEF as a potential single-site solution for U.S.-based uranium, conversion, and enrichment production.”
Timothy Knowles is the GLE Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Manager. He added, “We appreciate the extensive pre-application engagement with NRC staff, which helped inform our submission. We remain committed to working closely with the NRC to ensure a thorough, efficient, and expeditious review.”
The PLEF licensing effort follows GLE’s 2012 NRC-approved license for a commercial-scale laser enrichment facility in Wilmington, North Carolina. The 2012 project did not proceed due to poor market conditions at the time.
GLE said it anticipates an accelerated licensing timeline for the PLEF given the NRC’s prior approval and GLE’s well-characterized site. In November of 2024, GLE acquired six hundred and sixty-five acres adjacent to the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant for construction of the planned PLEF.
The company said it remains on track to start re-enriching the DOE’s Paducah inventory of depleted uranium tails no later than 2030.
GLE, a joint venture of Australian company Silex Systems (fifty one percent) and Cameco Corporation (forty nine percent) is the exclusive global licensee of the SILEX laser-based uranium enrichment technology, which would be deployed commercially at PLEF. The project is supported by a long-term agreement signed in 2016 for the sale to GLE of some two hundred thousand tons from the U.S. DoE inventory depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6) for re-enrichment to equivalent natural grade uranium hexafluoride. The DoE currently has a large inventory of the material from the former operations of its first-generation gaseous diffusion enrichment plants.
Michael Goldsworthy is the Silex Systems CEO and Managing Director. He said, “GLE’s submittal of its SAR represents a major milestone in the commercialization of the SILEX technology, which will culminate in the establishment of the planned PLEF. We commend the GLE team for their excellent efforts in the submission of the full license application ahead of the original schedule, and look forward to an expeditious review by the NRC.”