# Urenco Group

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European nuclear fuel company

Urenco Group Ltd Type Limited company Industry Nuclear Founded 1970 Headquarters United Kingdom Products Fuel Services Uranium enrichment Revenue 1,958,000,000 euro (2018) Operating income 1,200,000,000 euro (2018) Net income 511,000,000 euro (2018) Owner UK Government Investments (33%) Ultra-Centrifuge Nederland (33%) E.ON (16.5%) RWE (16.5%)

The **Urenco Group** (**urenco**) is a multi-national limited company with [shares and stocks](/source/Share_(finance)) majority owned by the governments of the [Netherlands](/source/Dutch_government) and the [United Kingdom](/source/Government_of_the_United_Kingdom) with minority shares controlled by German electric utilities [E.ON](/source/E.ON) and [RWE](/source/RWE). The Urenco Group operates several [uranium enrichment](/source/Uranium_enrichment) plants in Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, and the United Kingdom.[2] It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries, and states that it had a 29% share of the global market for enrichment services in 2011.[3][4] Urenco uses [centrifuge](/source/Zippe-type_centrifuge) enrichment technology.[5]

Urenco, headquartered in Paddington, [London](/source/London) England, is owned one third by the UK government, one third by the Dutch government, and the final third equally by two major German utilities, [E.ON](/source/E.ON) and [RWE](/source/RWE).[6]

In the 1990s, Urenco diversified its activities and established Urenco Isotopes in the Netherlands to produce stable isotopes for medical, industrial and research applications.[7][8]

## Group structure

### Ownership

Urenco is owned in three equal parts by Ultra-Centrifuge Nederland NV (owned by the [Government of the Netherlands](/source/Politics_of_the_Netherlands)), Uranit GmbH (owned equally by German energy companies [E.ON](/source/E.ON) and [RWE](/source/RWE)) [9] and Enrichment Holdings Ltd (owned by the [Government of the United Kingdom](/source/Government_of_the_United_Kingdom) and managed by [UK Government Investments](/source/UK_Government_Investments)).[10] The company was set up in 1971, pursuant to the Treaty of Almelo (named after [the city in the Netherlands](/source/Almelo) where the company originated), which restricts the sale of ownership stakes.[11][12]

### Subsidiaries

October 1984, [Pieter van Vollenhoven](/source/Pieter_van_Vollenhoven) visits the tanks with [Uranium hexafluoride](/source/Uranium_hexafluoride) (UF6) at Urenco in the Netherlands

Urenco Deutschland, Urenco UK, and Urenco Nederland are 100% subsidiaries of Urenco Enrichment Company. They operate enrichment plants at [Gronau](/source/Gronau%2C_North_Rhine-Westphalia), [Westphalia](/source/North_Rhine-Westphalia), Germany, at [Capenhurst](/source/Capenhurst_nuclear_site), England, and at [Almelo](/source/Almelo), Netherlands.[5]

In the United States, where Urenco is represented by its marketing subsidiary Urenco, Inc., the Urenco USA facility became operational in spring 2010. Called the [National Enrichment Facility](/source/National_Enrichment_Facility), it is located 5 miles (8.0 km) east of [Eunice, New Mexico](/source/Eunice%2C_New_Mexico), and is operated by Urenco's subsidiary Louisiana Energy Services (LES).[13]

Urenco also owns a 50% interest in [Enrichment Technology Company](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enrichment_Technology_Company&action=edit&redlink=1) [[nl](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrichment_Technology_Company)] (ETC), a company jointly owned with [Areva](/source/Areva). ETC provides enrichment-plant design services and gas-centrifuge technology for enrichment plants through its subsidiaries in the UK (Capenhurst), Germany (Gronau and Jülich), the Netherlands (Almelo), France (Tricastin) and the U.S. (Eunice, New Mexico).[13][14]

In 2025, infrastructure company [Costain Group](/source/Costain_Group) was contracted to upgrade the infrastructure at the Capenhurst plant. This will enable establishing Europe's first [high-assay low-enriched uranium](/source/High-assay_low-enriched_uranium) (HALEU) enrichment facility.[15]

## Decommissioning

Urenco Netherlands BV has dismantled enrichment plant SP3, after the [decommissioning](/source/Nuclear_decommissioning) of SP1 and SP2 in the 1980s and 1990s. Information about decommissioning cost calculations for Urenco facilities is not accessible.[16][17]

## Controversies

### Abdul Qadeer Khan

In the 1970s, [Abdul Qadeer Khan](/source/Abdul_Qadeer_Khan), who worked for a subcontractor of Urenco in [Almelo](/source/Almelo), brought the drawings of the centrifuges operated by Urenco to Pakistan by skipping the Urenco administration and the Dutch government. Those blueprints were stolen from the Urenco administration. In early 1974, Khan joined the [Project-706](/source/Project-706) uranium enrichment programme, launched by [Munir Ahmad Khan](/source/Munir_Ahmad_Khan) under [Zulfikar Ali Bhutto](/source/Zulfikar_Ali_Bhutto), Pakistani Prime Minister at that time. Later, he took over the project, and established a facility that produced [highly enriched uranium](/source/Highly_enriched_uranium) (HEU). Within a short span of time he established a highly advanced uranium enrichment facility near [Islamabad](/source/Islamabad).[18]

### Namibia

In May 1985, the [United Nations Council for Namibia](/source/United_Nations_Council_for_Namibia) (UNCN) decided to take legal action against Urenco for breaching UNCN Decree No 1, which prohibited any exploitation of Namibia's natural resources under [apartheid South Africa](/source/South_Africa_under_apartheid), because Urenco had been importing uranium ore from the [Rössing](/source/R%C3%B6ssing) mine in Namibia. The case was expected to be ready by the end of 1985 but was delayed because Urenco argued that, despite having enriched uranium of Namibian origin since 1980, it was impossible to tell where specific consignments came from. When the case finally reached court in July 1986, the Dutch government took Urenco's line, claiming not to have known where the uranium had been mined.[19]

### Uranium tails contracts with Russia

According to [Greenpeace](/source/Greenpeace), Urenco has a contract with Russia for the disposal of [radioactive waste](/source/Radioactive_waste). In reality, these contracts do not relate to the disposal of waste, but to the sale of [depleted uranium](/source/Depleted_uranium) tails, which are re-enriched to [natural uranium](/source/Natural_uranium) equivalent.[20][21] As the enricher, Russia would be the owner of any radioactive waste that results from this process. In March 2009, there were protests about the largest-ever load of [depleted uranium hexafluoride](/source/Depleted_uranium_hexafluoride) (**[DU](/source/Depleted_uranium)F6**) being transported from Germany to the [Siberian](/source/Siberia) town [Seversk](/source/Seversk).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ouroffices_1-0)** ["Global Operations"](https://www.urenco.com/global-operations). Urenco. Retrieved 22 October 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Urenco UK](https://www.urenco.com/global-operations/urenco-uk)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-urenco-about_3-0)** ["Global Operations"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141016130821/http://www.urenco.com/about-us/business-activity/global-operations). Urenco. Archived from [the original](http://urenco.com/about-us/business-activity/global-operations/) on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-urenco-2011_4-0)** ["Full Year 2011 Audited Financial Results"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120826052425/http://www.urenco.com/content/454/full-year-2011-audited-financial-results.aspx). Urenco. Archived from [the original](http://www.urenco.com/content/454/full-year-2011-audited-financial-results.aspx) on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Rothwell-2009_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Rothwell-2009_5-1) Geoffrey Rothwell (2009). ["Market Power in Uranium Enrichment"](http://www.princeton.edu/sgs/publications/sgs/archive/17-2-3-Rothwell.pdf) (PDF). *Science & Global Security*. **17** (2–3): 132–154. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[2009S&GS...17..132R](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009S&GS...17..132R). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1080/08929880903423586](https://doi.org/10.1080%2F08929880903423586). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [54768819](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:54768819). Retrieved 14 September 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Nuclear sale set to net billions for UK"](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/9400655/Nuclear-sale-set-to-net-billions-for-UK.html). *The Telegraph*. 15 July 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Urenco Isotopes"](https://www.urenco.com/global-operations/urenco-isotopes). *Urenco*. Retrieved 19 May 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Urenco Isotopes"](https://urencoisotopes.com/). *Urenco Isotopes*. Retrieved 19 May 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["ABC van kernenergie: Ultra-Centrifuge Nederland NV"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080304193529/http://www.nrg-nl.com/public/abc/node697.html). Archived from [the original](http://www.nrg-nl.com/public/abc/node697.html) on 4 March 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Advanced fuels announcement"](https://www.urenco.com/news/global/2024/advanced-fuels-announcement). *Urenco*. 8 May 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-urenco-history_11-0)** ["History"](https://web.archive.org/web/20120406214521/http://www.urenco.com/content/16/history.aspx). Urenco. Archived from [the original](http://www.urenco.com/content/16/history.aspx) on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-treaty-2005_12-0)** ["Agreement between the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic regarding Collaboration in Centrifuge Technology"](http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm70/7046/7046.pdf) (PDF). The Stationery Office. 12 July 2005. Cm 7046. Retrieved 12 July 2013.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-urenco-structure_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-urenco-structure_13-1) ["Company Structure"](http://urenco.com/about-us/company-structure/). urenco.com.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nei-20250813_14-0)** ["Managing Urenco's centrifuges"](https://www.neimagazine.com/analysis/managing-urencos-centrifuges/?cf-view). Nuclear Engineering International. 13 August 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-nei-20250325_15-0)** ["Urenco's Capenhurst enrichment facility to be upgraded"](https://www.neimagazine.com/news/urencos-capenhurst-enrichment-facility-to-be-upgraded/). Nuclear Engineering International. 25 March 2025. Retrieved 2 September 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** ["EU Decommission Funds"](https://web.archive.org/web/20071012212629/http://www.wupperinst.org/uploads/tx_wiprojekt/EUDecommFunds_NL.pdf) (PDF). wupperinst.org. Archived from [the original](http://www.wupperinst.org/uploads/tx_wiprojekt/EUDecommFunds_NL.pdf) (PDF) on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** [Linklist](http://epub.wupperinst.org/solrsearch/index/search/searchtype/simple/start/0/rows/10/query/EU+Decommission+Funds/sortfield/year_sort/sortorder/desc)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-bbc_18-0)** [The nuclear Walmart: Transcript](https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/6147208.stm) - BBC Panorama, 15 November 2006

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** ["Council for Namibia sues Netherlands over Namibia's natural resources"](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n4_v24/ai_6272039/). *UN Chronicle*. 1987. Retrieved 20 March 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["Rosatom says uranium tail contracts will not be renewed, citing economic infeasibility"](http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2009/no_more_ur_tails). bellona.org.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["World Nuclear Association: Uranium enrichment - section "Enrichment of depleted uranium tails""](https://web.archive.org/web/20101202112400/http://world-nuclear.org/info/inf28.html). world-nuclear.org. Archived from [the original](http://world-nuclear.org/info/inf28.html) on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2012.

## External links

- [Germany portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Germany)
- [Nuclear technology portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Nuclear_technology)

- [Official website](http://www.urenco.com/)

v t e RWE Divisions and subsidiaries Current Amprion Elektriciteits Produktiemaatschappij Zuid-Nederland Essent RWE Supply & Trading CZ Former American Water1 Npower RWE Dea Thames Water1 Joint ventures and holdings Current Deutsche Gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern für Abfallstoffe Forewind Gesellschaft für Nuklear-Service (28%) Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant (75%) Innogy (75%) Nabucco Gas Pipeline International (16.67%) Rostock Power Station (24.6%) Urenco Group Former Horizon Nuclear Power1 Places and facilities Germany Biblis Nuclear Power Plant Innogy Nordsee 1 Garzweiler surface mine Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant Hambach surface mine Lingen Nuclear Power Plant Mittelplate Mülheim-Kärlich Nuclear Power Plant Neurath Power Station Niederaussem Power Station Nordsee-Ost offshore wind farm Rostock Power Station RWE Tower United Kingdom Aberthaw power stations Atlantic Array Didcot power stations Dogger Bank Wind Farm Great Yarmouth Power Station Greater Gabbard wind farm Gwynt y Môr Knabs Ridge wind farm Little Barford Power Station Littlebrook Power Station North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm Pembroke Power Station Rhyl Flats Staythorpe Power Station Tilbury power stations Triton Knoll (proposed wind farm) Other Amercentrale Gazela Pipeline Gjøa oilfield Nabucco pipeline Nakhchivan field People Fritz Vahrenholt Other Advanced Plant Management System 1Sold 2Decommissioned Category Commons

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Urenco Group](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urenco_Group) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urenco_Group?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.