Energy Department Backs X-energy Push to Build U.S. Advanced Reactor Fuel Supply

The US Department of Energy has opened a pilot program to accelerate domestic production of fuel for next-generation nuclear reactors, inviting companies to establish commercial-scale manufacturing lines. The initiative aims to reduce reliance on Russian and Chinese supplies of high-assay low-enriched uranium and support President Donald Trump’s objective of quadrupling US nuclear-power output over the next 25 years. A focal point of the effort is X-energy’s work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where technicians are producing small batches of TRISO fuel—graphite-coated uranium ‘pebbles’ designed for advanced high-temperature reactors. The Maryland-based company has begun building a nearly $2 billion fuel-fabrication campus nearby, the first new US facility of its kind in more than 50 years. X-energy plans to bring its initial factory online as soon as late 2027, with capacity to supply fuel for 11 of its own reactors; a second plant, slated for 2029, would quadruple output. Standard Nuclear and Orano have announced parallel enrichment and fabrication projects in the Oak Ridge area, while Centrus Energy last year produced the nation’s first 20 kilograms of high-assay low-enriched uranium in seven decades. Industry advocates say boosting fuel output is critical to meeting rising electricity demand and ensuring the rollout of advanced reactors by around 2030. Critics counter that new nuclear construction remains costly and risky, pointing to recent budget overruns at large US projects.