Skip to content
nuclear•chain

Project Pele nuclear power plant

Under construction United States
Gross capacity
2MW

Project Pele nuclear power plant is a gas-cooled reactor unit at Project Pele nuclear power plant in United States rated at 2 MW gross. It is under construction. Commercial operation began 1 Jan 2028.

Specification
Reactor type Gas-cooled reactor (GCR)
Modelnot disclosed
Size classLarge
CoolantCarbon dioxide
ModeratorGraphite
Gross capacity2MW
Net capacity (reference)not disclosed
Net capacity (design)not disclosed
Thermal outputnot disclosed
Typical enrichmentNatural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235
Ownership & location
SiteProject Pele nuclear power plant
Unitnot stated
CountryUnited States
OwnerUS Department of Defense100%
Coordinates 43.5195, -112.0460approximate
Fuel chain for this unit
Fuel form
Uranium metal (Magnox) or uranium dioxide (AGR)
Enrichment
Natural uranium to 2.5–3.5% U-235 no enrichment required
Upstream

This unit runs on natural uranium, so its fuel chain has no enrichment step at all: mine → mill → conversion → fabrication. That is the shortest fuel chain of any commercial reactor type, and it makes the operator independent of the four organisations that control enrichment worldwide.

Conversion
CamecoCNNCConverDynOranoRosatom
Fabricator capability is recorded against reactor type and model line, not against named units — utilities do not publish fuel contracts. See the fuel chain.

Timeline

  1. 1 Jan 2028Commercial operation

Sources