ConverDyn, a partnership between Solstice Advanced Materials and General Atomics, is exploring the possibility of building a new uranium conversion plant in the United States. The company serves as the exclusive marketing agent for uranium hexafluoride (UF6) produced at the Metropolis Works plant in Illinois, the country’s only domestic uranium conversion facility. Against a backdrop of renewed global nuclear momentum, reflected in new industrial partnerships such as the EDF-NTPC agreement to develop EPR reactors in India, demand for uranium conversion services is intensifying.
Feasibility Analysis Launched for ‘Metropolis 2.0’
Hyder Ramatala, ConverDyn’s Director of Marketing and Sales, disclosed at the World Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference 2026 in Monaco that the company has retained an engineering firm to assess the timeline, cost, and technical feasibility of a second site, referred to as Metropolis 2.0. The analysis includes whether a modular approach is viable in the conversion space. “We’ve retained an engineering firm that will perform an analysis on how long it will take, how much it will cost, even something as simple as whether modularity is possible in the conversion space,” Ramatala said. Results are expected before year-end.
Investment decisions will remain contingent on market conditions. Ramatala noted that conversion capacity comes online in increments of thousands of tonnes, and investors are unwilling to generate idle capacity. The goal is to ensure new capacity is backed by supporting contracts from enrichers. Public funding dynamics in the nuclear sector are also growing in significance, as demonstrated by the European Union’s probe into the €3.2 billion in state aid granted to Romania’s nuclear sector.
A Short-Term Supply Gap of 3,000 Tonnes Identified
Solstice Advanced Materials has identified a short-term supply gap of about 3,000 tonnes of UF6 — the same volume as the planned expansion of the Metropolis plant. A potential second facility would depend on a “whole multitude of factors,” including demand, questions the engineering firm is expected to address. Solstice was spun off from Honeywell, General Atomics’ former joint venture partner, in October 2025. Ramatala described Solstice’s growth orientation as a “sea change” for ConverDyn.
In February, ConverDyn had already announced plans to increase output at Metropolis Works. That expansion matches precisely the 3,000-tonne gap Solstice identified. The plant’s restart and ongoing expansion plans signal a cycle reversal after years of global UF6 oversupply.
Metropolis Works: From Military Origins to Civilian Markets
The Metropolis plant was built in the 1950s to meet military uranium conversion requirements. It began supplying UF6 for civilian use in the late 1960s and is currently licensed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) until 2060. Its original nameplate capacity was up to 15,000 tU per year.
That capacity was reduced to 7,000 tU per year in 2017 due to a worldwide oversupply of UF6. Honeywell announced in November 2017 the temporary suspension of UF6 production, citing significant challenges facing the nuclear industry at that time. The plant was restarted in July 2023 and remains the only operating uranium conversion facility in the United States.
Original article online at: https://energynews.pro/en/converdyn-considers-building-second-uranium-conversion-plant-in-illinois