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| Uranium cylinders shipped from Russia are unloaded at the port of Dunkirk, France, in March 2023. (Source: AFP) |
AFP quoted a statement from the UK's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero Emissions stating that the implementation of the HALEU program will allow the country to supply the world with specialized nuclear fuel to "replace" Russia from the global energy market.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), currently, only one Russian company produces this specialized fuel on a commercial scale.
By launching its own HALEU production, the UK hopes to replace Russia as the world's only commercial producer of the fuel, said Claire Coutinho.
The HALEU manufacturing plant is expected to be operational in the early 2030s in England.
Stressing the importance of the programme to both domestic and international energy security, Minister Claire Coutinho said the programme builds on the UK’s competitive advantages.
The landmark £300m investment is part of plans to deliver up to 24GW of nuclear power by 2050, equivalent to 25% of the UK's electricity needs.
HALEU has a fissile isotope concentration of U-235 at 5%-20%, suitable for new generation nuclear power plants using small modular reactors (SRM).
The increased investment in nuclear fuel is seen as part of an energy transition strategy aimed at getting 95% of the UK's electricity from low-carbon sources by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2035.
Britain is also one of more than 20 countries, including the US, France and South Korea, that have pledged to triple global nuclear power by 2050 as part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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