Silex Process

SILEX is an acronym for Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation , a technology developed in the 1990s for isotope separation to produce enriched uranium using lasers.

The SILEX process was developed in Australia by Silex Systems Limited, a publicly listed high technology innovation company founded in 1988, and was invented by Dr Michael Goldsworthy and Dr Horst Struve. The process builds on earlier work in laser enrichment that began in the 1970s, such as AVLIS (atomic vapor laser isotope separation) and MLIS (molecular laser isotope separation.)

In November 1996 Silex Systems Limited signed a license and development agreement for the application of SILEX technology exclusively to uranium enrichment with the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) avoiding any problems for Australia under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.^{[citation needed]}

Silex Systems Limited concluded the second stage of testing in 2005 and began enacting its Test Loop Program. In 2007, an exclusive commercialization and licensing agreement was signed with General Electric Corporation. The Test Loop Program was transferred to GE's facility in Wilmington, North Carolina. Also in 2007, GE-Hitachi signed Letters of Intent for uranium enrichment services with Exelon and Entergy - the two largest nuclear power utilities in the USA.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) spun off Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) to commercialise the SILEX Technology and announced the first potential commercial uranium enrichment facility using the Silex process. The USA's Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved a license amendment to operate the Test Loop. Also in 2008, Cameco Corporation, the world’s largest uranium producer, had joined GE and Hitachi as owners of their laser enrichment venture GLE.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, concerns were raised the process poses a threat to global nuclear security; the process requires up to 75% less space and consumes considerably less energy than current enrichment technologies, it is reportedly almost undetectable from orbit potentially allowing rogue governments activities to go undetected by the international community.

In August, 2011 The New York Times reported that Global Laser Enrichment, a subsidiary of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, had applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a permit to build a commercial plant at Wilmington. Details of the process are secret.