Fueling the Coming Nuclear Renaissance

[Marlin]

Fueling the Coming Nuclear Renaissance

https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/06/15/fueling_the_coming_nuclear_renaissance_1187984.html

[Core Content]

Source: RealClearEnergy.

LIS Technologies is developing a laser-based uranium enrichment process to produce low-enriched uranium fuel at a lower cost than traditional centrifuge methods. The company recently secured the historic K-25 site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and plans to go public this summer while pursuing licensing to reach an annual capacity of 5 million separative work units.

This technology aims to address the rising costs of nuclear fuel and the supply chain vulnerabilities created by the recent ban on Russian uranium imports. By reviving laser enrichment techniques, the industry seeks to secure a domestic fuel source for the growing fleet of small modular reactors and microreactors. Increased domestic production capacity is necessary to meet projected electricity demands from data centers and advanced industrial technologies.

Saskatoon-based Cameco is a 21st-century global nuclear energy leader as North America's largest supplier of nuclear fuel for fission reactors. In its latest supply-and-demand market update, Cam

Traditionally, centrifuges have been used to separate the heavier uranium-238 from fissile uranium-235 atoms for low-enriched uranium (LEU) reactor fuel. As recently as 2018, LEU fuels were selling as low as $40 per separative work unit (SWU), the standard measure of effort required to separate uranium isotopes during enrichment. Today, that price is skyrocketing toward $200 per SWU.

Read the full article at RealClearEnergy:
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/06/15/fueling_the_coming_nuclear_renaissance_1187984.html