We know they need 40 tonnes of HALEU by 2030 for SMR's.This...

We know they need 40 tonnes of HALEU by 2030 for SMR's.

This article states that the dismantling of nuclear war heads will contribute 6 tonnes and Centrus will contribute 1 tonne per year, so say 5 or 6 tonnes by 2030: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/09/09/climate/nuclear-warheads-haleu/index.html, so that leaves them 30 tonnes short!

The recent media about Orano's new facility at Oak Ridge says that plant won't be in production until the 2030's and that's dependent on DOE funding so that's not going to help.

Centrus should be able to add some capacity if they get some funding but it will take them time to bring on new capacity.

Orano's Georges Besse II plant in France is being expanded by 30% and that project will be completed in 2028 so the US may be relying on France to replace Russian HALEU until US capacity comes on stream.

I bet the DOE were suprised that GLE didn't bid for HALEU earlier this year becuase I reckon that's left a big hole in their plans.

The only way is up as far as prices for HALEU is concerned.

Perhaps GLE was sending a mesage to exert a little more pressure on the Yanks and will adding on a HALEU plant after all if we get a decent chunk of the $2.7bn.