Cameco has entered an offtake agreement for a U.S. laser uranium enrichment plant.

Canadian company Cameco Corporation has entered into an exclusive offtake agreement to purchase all future production from Global Laser Enrichment’s (GLE) planned Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Kentucky. Silex Systems Limited announced the execution of the deal between GLE, the exclusive licensee of the SILEX laser enrichment technology, and Cameco.

GLE was established in 2007 to develop and commercialise laser-based uranium enrichment capabilities in the United States. The company is 51% owned by Silex Systems, the Australian inventor of the SILEX process, and 49% owned by Cameco.

Silex CEO and Managing Director Michael Goldsworthy stated that the offtake agreement provides a “home” for all of GLE’s future nuclear fuel products, including natural uranium hexafluoride (UF6) and enriched uranium products. He noted that the deal guarantees GLE will receive pricing equivalent to Cameco’s average realised price, net of appropriate selling costs, achieved annually across its long-term contracting portfolio. This structure eliminates the need for GLE to fund its own sales and marketing infrastructure.

“Cameco is one of the largest global providers of nuclear fuel with significant investments across the nuclear industry, including 49% ownership interests in both GLE and Westinghouse Electric Company,” Goldsworthy said. “The Agreement with Cameco also provides a key commercial pillar to support a future final investment decision (FID) for the PLEF. The Offtake Agreement contains customary contractual terms to protect the interests of GLE and Silex.”

Last year, North Carolina-based GLE achieved Technology Readiness Level 6 following a large-scale uranium enrichment demonstration programme using SILEX technology at its Test Loop facility in Wilmington, North Carolina. In July last year, the company submitted a full licence application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility.

Speaking at the World Nuclear Symposium 2026 in London last week, GLE CEO Stephen Long said the company expects to secure its PLEF licence in early 2027. He outlined plans to serve all enrichment markets, including low-enriched uranium (LEU), LEU+ (uranium enriched to between 5% and 10% uranium-235), and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

The Paducah site previously housed a gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant. Under an agreement with the US Department of Energy, GLE intends to re-enrich high-assay depleted uranium tails from those historical operations. Long stated that GLE expects to produce approximately 70,000 tonnes of “new, fresh feed” from more than 200,000 tonnes of tails at Paducah over the facility’s lifetime.

According to Long, advancing the commercialisation pathway, maturing the technology, and preparing for the final investment decision are critical to de-risking the project. “We've tried very carefully to choose a low-risk commercialisation pathway that exercises supply discipline and relies on durable demand in the enrichment market, regardless of what happens in the broader landscape,” he said.