DOE’s Office of Environmental Management Restarts Uranium Recovery in South Carolina to Support Energy Independence

Decision leverages Savannah River Site to produce fuel for advanced nuclear reactors, securing America’s energy future

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) today announced that it is restarting uranium recovery operations at the Savannah River Site (SRS) H Canyon facility in South Carolina, marking a strategic step forward in strengthening America’s nuclear industrial base and advancing energy independence.

The process of uranium recovery also creates an opportunity to recover valuable isotopes currently available in limited domestic quantities, supporting critical needs in scientific research, medical applications and commercial uses.

The decision enables the facility to once again recover uranium and valuable isotopes through its chemical separations capabilities while continuing to safely process used nuclear fuel as part of the site’s cleanup mission.

“Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we’re maximizing the value of existing assets, supporting national security objectives and advancing our cleanup mission — all while supplying America’s next generation of advanced nuclear reactors,” EM Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh said.

H Canyon remains the only operating, production-scale, radiologically shielded chemical separations facility in the U.S., successfully operating and recovering uranium and other valuable materials from used nuclear fuel for more than 70 years.

The decision to restart uranium recovery will produce high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) needed for advanced reactors, create an opportunity to recover valuable isotopes with limited availability and demonstrate America’s capability to manage the complete nuclear fuel cycle.

The restart directly supports Trump’s executive orders, Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base and Deploying Advanced Nuclear Reactor Technologies for National Security, which call for jumpstarting America’s nuclear industrial base to ensure national and economic security.

The current inventory of used nuclear fuel at SRS contains enough highly enriched uranium to create as many as 19 metric tons of HALEU, enough to fuel several proposed small modular reactors.

Recovering uranium from used fuel before final disposal also reduces the number of high-level waste canisters needed, advancing EM’s cleanup mission by reducing long-term risks and cost.