Utah-based Nusano was selected by the US Department of Energy (DoE) for its Nuclear Energy Launch Pad Program. The scheme is intended to help companies commercialize nuclear power concepts. Nusano is developing a process for producing high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, fuel for advanced reactors such as small modular reactors (SMRs) and molten salt reactors.

HALEU contains 5 to 20 weight percent U-235. Conventional reactor fuel contains less than 5 percent. The higher concentration supports smaller and more efficient reactor designs. Several US advanced-reactor demonstrations have reached zero-power criticality, but no such reactor is operating commercially.

The US has lacked a reliable commercial HALEU supply for years. Russia was the main commercial supplier, and China also has enrichment capability. In 2026, Centrus is the only US company producing HALEU. It has made less than two metric tons since signing a government contract in 2019. Other companies have agreements to produce HALEU and related fuels, but their facilities are still being established and output remains very small.

Nusano has not said that it has a working demonstration enrichment unit. The company told The Register that prototype development continues. Communications chief Scott Larrivee said each planned unit should produce 5.9 metric tons per year, with the first scheduled to operate in 2031. Nusano says its program has a plan for moving from proof of concept to commercial production.

The proposed process converts uranium feedstock into metal before enrichment. Proprietary separation techniques would increase the U-235 concentration and separate the isotope. The finished HALEU would also be metal. Other producers use gas centrifuges that spin uranium hexafluoride gas at high speed. Nusano says its process uses no gas and no gaseous fluorine chemistry.

Uranium hexafluoride can react with moisture to form toxic, corrosive hydrogen fluoride and uranyl fluoride. Exposure can cause chemical burns and damage to the lungs and kidneys. Nusano says one unit would occupy 1,200 square feet, with production costs below those of gas-centrifuge enrichment.

The scale remains a problem. The DoE estimates that US HALEU demand could reach 50 metric tons per year by 2035. Nusano's current plan provides 5.9 metric tons per year from one unit, beginning in 2031. In June 2025, the company said one unit could produce 50 metric tons annually and that total capacity could reach 350 metric tons per year by 2029. That announcement later disappeared from Nusano's website and survives in an archived copy. Larrivee said it came from an earlier leadership team and no longer reflected the company's development plans.

Data-center operators have announced plans to use SMRs and other advanced nuclear technologies when they become available. Limited HALEU production and the lack of commercial reactors leave the timing uncertain. The Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency has also repealed Biden-era emissions rules for coal and gas plants. The agency said coal generation could rise by more than ten times current levels.