Costain chosen to design UK’s novel advanced nuclear fuels facility

Urenco Capenhurst

COSTAIN has been awarded a contract from Urenco to design an advanced nuclear fuels plant in the UK.

The contract will see Costain carry out front-end engineering and design (FEED) for a high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) facility that will be built at Urenco’s existing uranium enrichment complex in Capenhurst, Cheshire.

Last year, the UK government awarded Urenco £196m (US$261m) to build a novel uranium enrichment facility, as it seeks to reduce reliance on Russian fuel supplies for next-generation nuclear reactors and address energy security concerns.

Most reactors currently in operation use fuel enriched to contain 2–5% of the uranium-235 isotopes needed for the fission process. HALEU is enriched to 5–20%, producing fuel which allows for longer operating cycles, smaller reactors, and the production of less radioactive waste. Today, only Russia and China have the facilities to produce HALEU at scale.

Sam White, managing director of natural resources at Costain, said: “Ensuring the UK’s supply of advanced nuclear fuel will be critical for powering the next generation of reactors, including AMRs [advanced modular reactors] and SMRs [small modular reactors]. These are nuclear technologies that will play an important role as low-carbon sources of electricity to support a secure, resilient and decarbonised energy system in the UK.”

Costain is expected to complete the FEED in 2027. It has not disclosed the value of the contract. In March, Urenco awarded Costain a contract to provide infrastructure upgrades at Capenhurst over the next three years.