Urenco Signed An Important Nuclear Fuel Deal With Korea’s KHNP

On Friday 22 March, Urenco (ENS Corporate Member) signed a new contract for the long-term supply of enrichment services with the operator of Korea’s nuclear power plants – Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Company (KHNP) – helping to provide a secure, diverse and reliable supply of nuclear fuel to the country.

With this agreement, Urenco, which has cooperated with KHNP since 1993, confirms its role as a major supplier for the Korean company for the next decade.

KHNP owns and operates 28 nuclear power plants (including those scheduled to be completed), and together with hydroelectric power plants, supplies more than 34% of the country’s total electricity.

We are delighted to reaffirm our strong working relationship with KHNP and look forward to playing our part in helping to achieve its energy vision for Korea – as well as contributing to its climate change goals. Urenco is committed to meeting increased demand for enrichment services with flexible, resilient and sustainable operations.

Urenco’s Chief Commercial Officer Laurent Odeh said.

Read the full Urenco Press Release.

Urenco’s ambitious goals found a strong confirmation a few days after the signature of this agreement.

Indeed, on 25 March, a ceremony was held to mark the start of work on the capacity expansion at Almelo (The Netherlands), as announced last December.

According to the company’s long-term plan, the expansion will provide an additional capacity of around 750 tonnes of SWU per year, a 15% increase at Urenco Nederland, with the first new cascades coming online around 2027.

The importance of long-term strategies, investments, and further efforts towards diversification of suppliers to ensure nuclear fuel cycle security is a topic that ENS, together with Urenco, Euratom Supply Agency (ENS Member) and Orano, recently discussed in the event “Fuelling Europe’s Future – Uranium Supply, Conversion and Enrichment“, which took place in Brussels on 25th October.

Read more about the event in our follow-up newsletter.