RESTORING AMERICA'S ABILITY TO ENRICH URANIUM
The United States faces a glaring hole in our energy security and national security supply chain: the lack of American-owned uranium enrichment.
Russia dominates the nuclear fuel market, with 44% of global uranium enrichment capacity. The last large-scale U.S.-owned enrichment plant shut down permanently in 2013, leaving the United States overwhelmingly dependent upon foreign, state-owned enterprises. And we lack the ability to enrich uranium for national security missions.
CENTRUS IS LEADING THE EFFORT TO RESTORE AMERICAN URANIUM ENRICHMENT
To meet our clean energy demands and to meet critical national security requirements, we need to restore America’s ability to enrich uranium.
Enter Centrus Energy – the American company leading the effort to re-establish U.S. nuclear fuel production.
Under contract with the Department of Energy, in late 2023 Centrus’ plant in Piketon, Ohio, began production of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) – an advanced nuclear fuel component urgently needed to power the next generation of reactors.
While the initial capacity is modest, with sufficient funding, Centrus can expand the facility with more than 10,000 additional centrifuges – enough for large-scale production of Low-Enriched Uranium for existing reactors and HALEU for advanced reactors to meet critical national security requirements.
In fact, it would be enough to completely replace America’s dependence on Russia.
THE $3.4 BILLION QUESTION: INVEST IN FOREIGN OR AMERICAN MANUFACTURING?
To transition away from Russian imports, Congress provided the Department of Energy $3.4 billion to jumpstart American nuclear fuel production.
The Department faces a fundamental choice in allocating this funding: it can select a foreign enrichment technology manufactured overseas, or an American technology manufactured here at home.
American Centrifuge Technology |
| American owned |
| Manufactured exclusively in the U.S. |
| American supply chain |
| Can meet U.S. national security needs |
European Centrifuge Technology |
| Foreign owned |
| Manufactured exclusively overseas |
| Foreign supply chain |
| Can’t be used for U.S. national security |
European-owned enrichers use a centrifuge technology that is manufactured exclusively in the Netherlands, using an overseas supply chain. While it can be deployed in the United States, all of the manufacturing jobs and technical know-how is in Europe. And pursuant to non-proliferation agreements, it cannot be used to meet America’s national security requirements.
The American centrifuge is designed and manufactured by Centrus in Tennessee, operated in Ohio, with major support coming from a supply chain of 14 American companies spanning at least 13 states plus dozens of other smaller companies.
THE BOTTOM LINE: To meet America’s energy security and national security requirements, we should invest in an American technology, built by American workers.
PROTECTING NATIONAL SECURITY
The United States currently lacks the ability to enrich uranium for defense purposes and is relying upon a finite stockpile leftover from the Cold War to meet these requirements today. The Department of Energy has repeatedly said that it will ultimately need a new enrichment capability using U.S.-origin technology. Centrus is the ONLY American company with a deployment-ready, U.S.-origin enrichment technology capable of meeting these ongoing and enduring needs.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Over the last few decades, Russia replaced the United States as the dominant global player in uranium enrichment. The United States has gone from being the world’s largest exporter of nuclear fuel to the world’s largest importer. That means that America didn’t just offshore manufacturing and enrichment capabilities, but the skillset needed to develop, build and operate this technology as well.
Centrus began U.S. enrichment operations in Ohio in late 2023 and is now seeking to reclaim American leadership in this critical industry. With sufficient public and private support, Centrus can expand capacity in Ohio to meet the full range of America’s commercial and national security requirements for uranium enrichment.
AMERICA’S URANIUM ENRICHMENT COMPANY
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