CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS (By Uranium Energy, Energy Analytics Institute, 2.Sep.2025, Words: 940) — Uranium Energy Corp launched United States Uranium Refining & Conversion Corp. (“UR&C”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the company, to pursue the feasibility of developing a new state-of-the-art American uranium refining and conversion facility.
Key highlights:
— Scale & Vertical Integration – UEC is the largest US uranium company by estimated resources, licensed production and processing capacity. UR&C will position UEC as the only American company with a nuclear fuel supply chain capability from U₃O₈ production to refining, conversion, and delivery of natural UF₆ to enrichment plants for LEU and HALEU production.
— Aligned with American Energy Dominance Policies – This initiative responds to federal policy under President Trump’s recent executive orders that call for a fourfold expansion of US nuclear capacity to 400 gigawatts by 2050 and reduced reliance on foreign sources of uranium. The orders include invoking the DPA to onshore the nuclear fuel cycle as a priority for national security with multiple agencies required to support the objectives.
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— Near All-time High Pricing for UF₆ Conversion – Currently, the conversion price is in the range of $64-66/kgU in the spot market and approximately $52/kgU in the long-term market, indicative of a highly undersupplied market and a major bottleneck in the US nuclear fuel supply chain.
— Timing is Right to Expand Domestic Conversion Capacity – Market conditions and current federal government support create a prime opportunity for a US company to develop a new uranium refining and UF₆ conversion plant, addressing the demand for an expansion of domestic UF₆ conversion capabilities.
— Largest and Most Modern Planned Conversion Facility in the US – The current development and design focus aims to build the largest UF₆ conversion facility in the US, standing amongst the most modern in the Western world. The conversion services plant will have a designed capacity to produce ~10,000 metric tonnes uranium (“MtU”) per year as UF₆, representing a substantial share of U.S. demand at 18,000 MtU per year.
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— First-Mover Advantage with Fluor – Building on a year of engineering and design work already completed with Fluor Corporation, a Fortune 500 engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm and long-standing US Department of Energy contractor with relevant nuclear-project experience, provides UR&C with a clear first-mover advantage.
— Phased Execution – UEC will move the project forward in stages, ensuring disciplined progress, while providing updates as evaluations, partnerships, and government engagement advance.
“For far too long, the US. has relied on foreign sources to supply and process the critical materials essential to our national and economic security. We are seeking to address this problem by advancing a vertically integrated supply chain for natural UF₆, providing essential feedstock for commercial enrichment to power the world’s largest nuclear reactor fleet and supplying the unobligated US-origin uranium required to fuel America’s nuclear navy. The proposed facility directly aligns with U.S. policy and would contribute to unlocking American enrichment growth.
UEC president and CEO Amir Adnani
“With UEC’s proven track record, sector leadership and team depth, UR&C is uniquely positioned to deliver on this national priority. Most importantly, by providing a critical cornerstone for a secure US nuclear fuel supply chain, UEC would be a key part of President Trump’s program to quadruple America’s domestic nuclear energy capacity.”
Project basis and stakeholder engagement
The proposed facility is the result of work initiated with Fluor Corporation in July 2024 and supported by a recently completed AACE Class 5 conceptual study. The study contemplates a new and modern U.S. conversion facility sized to produce ~10,000 MtU per year as UF₆, including associated infrastructure. Total installed capacity (with contingency) was developed at a conceptual level and forms the basis for advancing more detailed engineering and commercial planning.
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The company has also initiated discussions on potential siting options, evaluating factors such as logistics, workforce availability, public acceptance, local incentives, and synergies with other fuel cycle facilities.
The project will move forward contingent on several factors, including completion and assessment of additional engineering and economic studies, securing strategic government commitments, utility contracts, regulatory approvals, and favorable market conditions. UEC has begun initial discussions with the United States government, state-level energy authorities, utilities, and financial entities, and will report further updates as these engagements advance.
By establishing UR&C, UEC aims to deliver a capability that is both strategically essential and commercially transformative, expanding domestic uranium refining and UF₆ conversion capacity and creating a resilient, American supplier for decades to come.
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“Positioning UEC as the only vertically integrated US company with uranium mining, processing, refining and conversion capabilities is both a significant commercial opportunity and a strategic necessity for the United States. Under one American banner, UEC’s end-to-end capabilities would provide a secure, geopolitically reliable source of Uranium Hexafluoride (“UF₆”), the critical feedstock for enrichment that enables the production of low-enriched uranium (“LEU”) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (“HALEU”), fuels essential to powering large, small, and advanced reactors for undersupplied domestic and allied markets.
UEC Chairman and Former US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
“We are structuring UR&C as a subsidiary to advance this initiative in a fiscally optimal manner, including tactical partnerships and direct investments. This allows UEC to maintain a strong balance sheet and continue to prioritize its core uranium mining and processing business, while separately advancing UR&C to enhance UEC shareholder value.
“Our priorities are clear: to build on UEC’s existing uranium platform by advancing a fully American supply chain to support growing domestic enrichment; to ensure alignment with U.S. policy and Defense Production Act (“DPA”) authorities; and to work in close partnership with government and industry. Together, these priorities position UR&C to play a central role in expanding America’s nuclear fuel cycle and strengthening its long-term energy security.”
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