Last year the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction and operating license to General Electric-Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment LLC for its proposed uranium enrichment plant in North Carolina, which will use the Separation of Isotopes by Laser Excitation (SILEX) process to enrich uranium for commercial nuclear reactor fuel. Today, the majority of U.S. enriched uranium is supplied by foreign sources; tomorrow the GLE facility promises to secure domestic enrichment services for the next generation of reactors.