US Centrus Energy Ships First Centrifuge to Support Piketon Expansion

Recently, the technology and manufacturing center of US-based Centrus Energy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has completed the manufacture of its first new advanced centrifuge and officially shipped it to the uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio.

This milestone marks the entry of Centrus' multi-billion-dollar uranium enrichment capacity expansion project into the on-site cascade assembly phase. The project adopts Centrus' independently developed AC-100M advanced centrifuge technology. The first batch of expanded enrichment capacity is expected to officially enter operation in 2029, aiming to simultaneously meet the commercialization and national security needs of low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU).

Centrus operates the only advanced centrifuge manufacturing facility in the United States and has previously received a task order from the US Department of Energy (DOE) worth up to USD 1.07 billion, as well as USD 70 million in support from Tennessee's nuclear energy fund. The large-scale expansion of the Piketon plant is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs and 300 operational jobs in Ohio alone, comprehensively reshaping the US domestic enriched uranium industrial chain.

Amir Vexler, President and CEO of Centrus, stated that the completion of the first new centrifuge and the establishment of an independent supply chain represent a landmark breakthrough in the United States' effort to rebuild its domestic nuclear fuel supply capability. With the gradual release of expanded capacity, Centrus will effectively fill the commercial gap in HALEU fuel for advanced nuclear reactors across the United States and consolidate the country's strategic position in the global enriched uranium market.