The National Enrichment Facility (NEF) is a nuclear facility for the enrichment of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

associated with the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

. The plant uses a

gas centrifuge A gas centrifuge is a device that performs isotope separation of gases. A centrifuge relies on the principles of centrifugal force accelerating molecules so that particles of different masses are physically separated in a gradient along the radiu ...

technology known as

Zippe-type centrifuge The Zippe-type centrifuge is a gas centrifuge designed to enrich the rare fissile isotope uranium-235 (235U) from the mixture of isotopes found in naturally occurring uranium compounds. The isotopic separation is based on the slight difference in m ...

s. It is located east of

Eunice, New Mexico Eunice is a city in Lea County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 2,922 at the 2010 census. Description The mayor of Eunice, as of March 2018, was Billy Hobbs. A URENCO USA National Enrichment Facility, which uses Zippe-type centr ...

. The NEF is operated by Louisiana Energy Services (LES), which is in turn owned by the

Urenco Group The Urenco Group is a British-German-Dutch nuclear fuel consortium operating several uranium enrichment plants in Germany, the Netherlands, United States, and United Kingdom. It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries, and sta ...

. As of 2011, LES operates as URENCO USA. NEF employs a new type of license, the 10 CFR Part 2. It is a combination license granted by the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the NRC began operat ...

(NRC) allowing the plant to proceed directly from construction to operation. First of its kind, this means NEF will be closely watched by many parties in the nuclear community. The original proposed budget was USD 1.5 billion, but this increased to USD 3 billion for an enlarged facility capable of 5.9 million SWU at full capacity. Since the Dedication Ceremony in October 2008, the company has grown to 236 employees with an annual payroll of USD 23 million. At full capacity, NEF can provide 50% of the current enriched uranium demand for civilian nuclear power plants in the U.S. The NEF commenced operations in June 2010. It is located in an area known as "nuclear alley", which also includes the

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository (after Germany's Repository for radioactive waste Morsleben and the Schacht Asse II salt mine) licensed to store transuranic radioactive waste for 10,000 ...

and

Waste Control Specialists Waste Control Specialists LLC (WCS) is a treatment, storage, & disposal company dealing in radioactive, hazardous, and mixed wastes. Developed and controlled by Texas billionaire investor Harold Simmons until his death at the end of 2013, the comp ...

Timeline

* 23 June 2006: LES was granted license to commence building the facility. * 29 August 2006: Groundbreaking ceremony takes place at the NEF site. * 22 October 2008: Dedication ceremony * 15 February 2009: First shipment of

Uranium hexafluoride Uranium hexafluoride (), (sometimes called "hex") is an inorganic compound with the formula UF6. Uranium hexafluoride is a volatile white solid that reacts with water, releasing corrosive hydrofluoric acid. The compound reacts mildly with alumin ...

for acceptance testing * 10 June 2010: Received authorization to bring UF₆ feed stock on-site * 13 June 2010: First shipment of UF₆ feed material arrives on-site * 25 June 2010: Enrichment of UF₆ officially begins in Cascade #1 * 14 August 2012: First cascade of phase II started up * January 2013: Phase I of construction officially complete

References

External links

NEFUrenco Group
{{coord, 32.4356, -103.0796, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Industrial buildings completed in 2010 Isotope separation facilities in the United States Nuclear technology in the United States Buildings and structures in Lea County, New Mexico Industrial buildings and structures in New Mexico Nuclear fuel infrastructure in the United States Los Alamos National Laboratory