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The Bethesda, Maryland–based Centrus Energy Corp. will get an injection of $900 million from the Department of Energy to expand enrichment operations at its Ohio and Tennessee facilities (OilPrice.com).

What’s going on: The U.S.-owned, U.S.-controlled uranium enrichment company announced earlier this month that it had been chosen by the DOE for a $900 million task order to build out its enrichment and centrifuge manufacturing capabilities at its facilities located in Piketon, Ohio, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

• “The competitively awarded funding will support a previously announced multibillion-dollar expansion that includes commercial-scale production of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU), a critical fuel for next-generation nuclear reactors, alongside additional production of conventional low-enriched uranium (LEU) for the existing reactor fleet.”
• Centrus has already begun adding to its workforce in anticipation of the project, which is forecast to create about 1,000 construction jobs and 300 permanent jobs in Ohio and hundreds of new direct jobs in Tennessee.

Why it’s important: There is growing bipartisan support to shore up domestic uranium enrichment to power nuclear reactors.

• Russia remains a dominant global supplier of enrichment capacity, particularly for HALEU, which has become a strategic vulnerability as advanced reactor projects move closer to deployment.

NAM involvement: The NAM is one of the foremost advocates for strengthening nuclear power in the U.S. Last year, the NAM pressed Energy Secretary Chris Wright to allocate this funding to spur “the Department of Energy’s collaboration with the private sector to restore American leadership in producing nuclear fuel.” Timmons cited Centrus as an important example and urged further investment in the domestic nuclear supply chain.

The details: Under the DOE order, Centrus will install additional centrifuge cascades to increase HALEU output and produce LEU feedstock for those cascades, as well as expand LEU volumes for commercial utilities and support national security mandates.

• The first of the new capacity will come in 2029, the company said.
• In addition to the $900 million, the task order includes possible funding, at the DOE’s discretion, of up to $170 million for HALEU production and delivery, bringing the total potential value to about $1.07 billion.

The NAM says: “Increasing domestic supplies of nuclear fuel will help the U.S. boost its output of nuclear power, which is crucial for manufacturers to continue to access stable, clean and abundant baseload power in the U.S.,” said NAM Director of Energy and Resources Policy Michael Davin.

• “Domestic sources of nuclear fuel and secure supply chains will also allow the U.S. to avoid relying on foreign adversaries to fuel its nuclear fleet.”