The Bottlenecks of the Nuclear Fuel & Supply Chain

While there is no shortage of demand from the nuclear renaissance, the rate of deploying new reactors will be determined by the capacity of the supply chain. Expanding capacity for supply chain bottlenecks, such as pump manufacturing and uranium enrichment, is not addressed overnight. The federal government has identified multiple bottlenecks throughout the fuel and supply chain, with companies included in the VettaFi Nuclear Renaissance Index (NUKZX) working to address them today, not tomorrow.

Key Takeaways Curtiss-Wright ( CW ) is working to expand reactor coolant pump production capacity for Westinghouse’s large AP1000 reactor. Centrus Energy ( LEU ) is expanding domestic production of conventional low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). Fluor ( FLR ) is working across the nuclear value chain to address the lack of nuclear construction experience with both reactor and fuel facilities.

Curtiss-Wright Illustrates the Component Bottleneck The reactor coolant pump is one of the largest and most technically demanding components in a pressurized-water reactor. It circulates water through the reactor core and transfers heat to the steam generators. Each Westinghouse AP1000 requires four reactor coolant pumps. At a November 2025 investor conference, Curtiss-Wright management said the company had capacity to produce approximately 12 to 16 pumps annually. That equates to only three to four AP1000 reactors per year. Management also indicated that producing and delivering a reactor coolant pump can involve a four- to five-year process. With multiple reports of the federal government looking to announce as many as 20 new reactors in the near future, the feasibility of those endeavors is brought into question.

See more: Cameco Sees Path to 20 New US Large-Scale Reactors Directly addressing the issue, both the company and the federal government have started taking action. The company recently announced an $80 million multi-year investment in its Cheswick, Pennsylvania campus. This is the manufacturing facility for the AP1000 reactor coolant pumps. The Department of Energy has also stepped up, with a $17.5 billion conditional loan specifically intended for ordering long-lead components for the grid-scale Westinghouse reactors.

Enrichment Capacity Must Precede Reactor Deployment Fuel represents another potential constraint. The Department of Energy estimates that the United States imports approximately 20% to 25% of its enriched uranium from Russia. The federal ban on Russian low-enriched uranium (LEU) imports, while allowing temporary waivers through 2027, creates a significant supply gap that domestic and allied producers must fill. Existing large reactors primarily use conventional LEU, while many advanced reactor designs require high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). In the U.S., only LEU is available on a commercial scale, with HALEU only being produced in pilot quantities. Meeting domestic demands for nuclear energy in the U.S. could require as much as $35 billion in capital investment for enrichment capacity alone. Centrus Energy is racing to address the shortfall, as they recently finalized a $900 million Department of Energy contract supporting commercial-scale HALEU production. Including options for future fuel purchases, the total contract value could reach over $1 billion. Centrus is also investing more than $560 million in its Oak Ridge centrifuge manufacturing operation. The facility is expected to produce thousands of advanced centrifuges for deployment at the company’s enrichment plant in Ohio.

Fluor Brings Scarce Nuclear Construction Experience Even when equipment and fuel are available, projects still require experienced firms to integrate design, procurement, construction, and commissioning. Few engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firms have experience...