Thread by @ClayDMontgomery

Listening again to the recent Full Committee Hearing to Examine the Nuclear Fuel Cycle, I've realized it's more bullish than I thought. Senator Barrasso (00:52:00) asks the DoE what's REALLY causing the delay in their ...

#Uranium #Silex $SLX.AX $CCJ

energy.senate.gov/hearings/2023/…

"inter-agency review process", to release the First Draft of their Solicitation for Fuel Acquisition Proposals for the HALEU Availability Program. He is suspicious of anti-nuclear politics at the OMB. But, I think the delay is actually at the NNSA (within the DoE).
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They have been working on this for over a year and the pressure on the DoE to get it released must be getting intense, from both Congress and utilities. The NNSA is not anti-nuclear, but are responsible for security and non-proliferation issues. They also must have agreement ...

from the DoD because they will rely on the commercial sector for HALEU, too (from Centrus and/or GLE, eventually).

So, what IS the problem? It's most likely because GLE's laser technology has always been a security concern and now the DoE must "stand up" a new public/private ...

framework, under which GLE can participate, even though the traditional methods of monitoring compliance at enrichment plants won't work for lasers. But, they can't exclude GLE because they are needed to solve the current supply crisis sooner than Centrus can, as well as to ...

recycle acres of depleted UF6 tanks at Paducah. The Senators and DoE know that both are needed, plus the Urenco expansion too. They have a mandate for more "fulsome domestic supply" and 3 enrichers is much better than 2 (or only 1 for the DoD). Since GLE's lasers are the only ...

part of this new framework that is really new, I'm guessing the delays are to accommodate GLE by designing a new security regime, and the long delay to "Get it exactly right" shows the importance of including GLE. It's very bullish for Silex and Cameco, IMHO.
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Listen to the Constellation CEO include "the need for DoE funding for laser enrichment" in his 3 main points (00:40:00). It also shows that GLE (the only fuel-chain company mentioned specifically, albeit not by name) is really at the center of the delays.
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Barrasso's new bill includes $3.5 Billion of new funding for the DoE to kick-start term contracting for several domestic fuel projects, like the DoE recently did for ConverDyn. This will be a huge increase over the $700M the DoE has now for the fuel supply chain (from IRA).
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This is sure to get a lot of attention considering that the market caps on Silex and Centrus are only about $500M, for each. Urenco and ConverDyn will get some of it, but there's just not that many players.
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My first report on this committee hearing:

https://twitter.com/ClayDMontgomery/status/1635378573648498689?s=20