Costain chosen to upgrade UK enrichment plant

Thursday, 20 March 2025

The framework is expected to see contracts awarded to Costain over a minimum of three years. Costain will lead and deliver an integrated programme of Urenco's infrastructure investment activities, including developing the design, procurement, construction and commissioning of works and upgrades at Capenhurst.

Costain said it will work closely with local supply chain partners and provide strategic direction, integration, assurance and governance of the works.

"Ensuring the supply of safe, low-carbon electricity is critical for creating a sustainable future," said Sam White, managing director, natural resources at Costain. "We're bringing decades of experience in predictable, best-in-class delivery to help safeguard the UK's energy security and support the transition to more sustainable energy generation."

The site is undergoing a series of complex work programmes to support the long-term resilience of the site, including establishing Europe's first high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) advanced fuels facility.

The UK government announced in May last year that it was awarding GBP196 million (USD254 million) to Urenco to build a uranium enrichment facility with the capacity to produce up to 10 tonnes of HALEU per year by 2031. The funding is part of the GBP300 million HALEU programme announced in January 2024.

HALEU - uranium enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium-235 - will be used in the advanced nuclear fuel required for most of the next-generation reactor designs currently under development. At present, only Russia and China have the infrastructure to produce HALEU at scale. The first advanced reactors are scheduled to be operational in the early 2030s.

Urenco has an investment programme under way at its uranium enrichment facilities aimed at strengthening the nuclear fuel supply chain worldwide. In addition to the expansion project at its Capenhurst facility, it is also adding new capacity at its plant in Eunice, New Mexico, in the USA, and at its Almelo plant in the Netherlands. At its site in Gronau, Germany, the company is re-fitting an existing space with more modern centrifuge technology which will enhance the capacity of the plant.

One-third of Urenco's shares are ultimately held by the UK government, through Enrichment Investments Limited, one-third by the Dutch government, through Ultra-Centrifuge Nederland NV, and one-third by two German utilities, through a holding company, Uranit UK Limited. Shares in the German holding company are indirectly held 50% by EOn SE and 50% by RWE AG.