Laser enrichment could unlock uranium from waste for nuclear fuel

Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) is pioneering a laser-based method to reprocess old uranium waste stored in thousands of cylinders near Paducah, Kentucky. Instead of spinning material in centrifuges, laser enrichment exploits the distinct vibrational frequencies of uranium isotopes. By targeting molecules containing U-235 with precise laser pulses, the material can be selectively excited and then separated via chemical or physical processes. The company claims this approach could produce feedstock at concentrations equivalent to natural mined uranium, and eventually make fuel for advanced reactors requiring up to 20% U-235.

Interest in laser enrichment has existed for decades, but early lasers were unstable and high-maintenance. Recent improvements in laser reliability, combined with a major geopolitical shift, are reviving the technology. Russia historically dominated the global enrichment market, but the Ukraine war has prompted the US and UK to restrict Russian uranium imports, creating a gap that new enrichment technologies aim to fill. LIS Technologies, another startup, just purchased a 200-acre site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to build its own laser enrichment plant. If successful, these technologies could reduce fuel costs and ensure domestic supply for a nuclear renaissance that supplements the current 9% of global electricity from nuclear.