ASP Isotopes’ subsidiary evaluates pilot metal-conversion facility in Namibia
ASP Isotopes’ nuclear-fuel subsidiary Quantum Leap Energy (QLE) is evaluating opportunities to develop a pilot-scale metal-conversion facility in Namibia.
QLE, a wholly owned unit of US-listed ASP Isotopes, said on Tuesday a public environmental and social impact assessment and consultation process had started for a proposed facility in the Walvis Bay area.
The facility would be used to develop, test and demonstrate hydrofluorination and fluorination processes for metals, the company said.
In simple terms, these are chemical processes that add fluorine to a metal or metal-containing material to produce fluoride compounds. Fluorine-based compounds are used in everyday products such as refrigerants, plastics, non-stick coatings and pharmaceuticals, as well as in industrial processes and advanced materials.
However, QLE has not specified which metals would be processed at the Namibian facility.
Namibia is a significant uranium producer, with established operations and a pipeline of new projects that could increase the country’s production and strategic importance in the global nuclear fuel supply chain
The company said evaluation remains at an early stage and no final investment decision has been made. Any future development will be subject to technical, commercial, environmental and regulatory reviews and approvals.
The planned facility would be a pilot plant to test and demonstrate the technology before any commercial-scale development. QLE has not disclosed the project’s potential cost, capacity, funding or timeline.
QLE is a development-stage nuclear-fuels company working on technology to process uranium and prepare it for use as nuclear fuel.
Uranium is a naturally occurring metal used mainly as fuel in nuclear reactors to generate electricity. Radioactive materials produced through nuclear processes are also used in medicine for diagnosis and cancer treatment.
QLE is separately developing technology to process uranium into a form that can then be further treated for use in nuclear fuel. In July it announced a research agreement with Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station to advance this work.
However, QLE has not said that the Walvis Bay facility would process uranium.
QLE says it has not received approval to test its uranium-enrichment technology, apart from work covered by its agreement with South Africa’s Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa).
The proposed facility comes as Namibia looks to expand its role in the nuclear fuel value chain beyond uranium mining.
Namibia is a significant uranium producer, with established operations and a pipeline of new projects that could increase the country’s production and strategic importance in the global nuclear fuel supply chain.
The country’s development plans have identified uranium conversion as a potential area for further value addition. Namibia’s National Development Plan 6 — which runs from 2025/26 to 2029/30 — includes an assessment of the viability of uranium conversion as part of efforts to develop more downstream activity around the country’s uranium resources.
The company said this creates a potential strategic fit with QLE’s broader focus on nuclear-fuel-cycle technologies.
The next steps will be the outcome of the environmental and social impact assessment and regulatory process, followed by a decision by QLE on whether to proceed with the pilot facility.
ASP Isotopes is listed on Nasdaq and has a secondary listing on the JSE.