Research published in Science found high assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel used for small nuclear power reactors can be used to produce nuclear weapons, posing terrorism and nuclear proliferation threats.

An analysis published today in the journal Science found that, contrary to a widely held assumption, the high assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) now being produced with federal subsidies to fuel the next generation of small nuclear power reactors can be used directly to make nuclear weapons, and thus presents greater terrorism and nuclear proliferation threats than publicly acknowledged by the federal government and industry.