Canada's Cameco Signs Exclusive Offtake Agreement to Lock Up All Future Output from U.S. Paducah Laser Enrichment Plant

Canadian nuclear fuel giant Cameco has signed a new exclusive offtake agreement with Global Laser Enrichment (GLE), under which Cameco will purchase all nuclear fuel products from the future production of the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) that GLE plans to build in Kentucky, United States.

This major agreement was formally announced by Australia's Silex Systems. GLE was founded in 2007 to develop and commercialize laser-based uranium enrichment technology in the United States. The company is currently 51% owned by Silex Systems, the developer of SILEX laser enrichment technology, and 49% by Cameco.

Silex Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Michael Goldsworthy said the offtake agreement provides a stable offtake destination for all nuclear fuel products from GLE's future output——including natural uranium hexafluoride (UF6) and various enriched uranium products.

Under the terms of the agreement, GLE's product selling price will be equivalent to the annual average net realized price achieved by Cameco in its long-term contract portfolio (net of reasonable selling costs), which eliminates the need for GLE to incur additional high costs to establish its own independent sales and marketing system.

Goldsworthy noted that Cameco, as one of the world's largest nuclear fuel suppliers, has deep investment positions across the nuclear industry, including 49% stakes in both GLE and Westinghouse Electric Company. The conclusion of the offtake agreement also lays a key commercial pillar for the PLEF project's future final investment decision (FID).

North Carolina-based GLE completed a demonstration project using SILEX technology last year at its test loop facility in Wilmington, successfully reaching Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL 6). Subsequently, the company submitted a full license application for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in July last year.

GLE Chief Executive Officer Stephen Long revealed at the 2026 World Nuclear Association (WNA) Symposium in London that the company expects to formally obtain the PLEF operating license in early 2027 and plans to fully serve the low-enriched uranium (LEU), LEU+ (uranium-235 enrichment between 5% and 10%), and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) markets.

Paducah was formerly the site of a U.S. gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant. GLE plans to re-enrich the high-assay depleted uranium tailings left from the site's historical operations under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy. Long stated that over the plant's entire lifecycle, GLE expects to produce approximately 70,000 tonnes of new uranium feedstock from the more than 200,000 tonnes of existing tailings at Paducah.

Long added that clarifying the commercialization pathway, advancing technology maturity, and preparing for the final investment decision are central to GLE's efforts to reduce the overall risk of the project. The company has carefully chosen a low-risk commercialization route and will adhere to strict supply discipline regardless of changes in the external environment, steadily advancing on the back of persistently firm demand in the enriched uranium market.