Company releases photos of the first
U.S.-owned, U.S.-technology enrichment plant to begin production in
70 years
BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 9, 2023
/PRNewswire/ -- Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE American: LEU) announced
today that it has completed construction of a cascade of advanced
uranium enrichment centrifuges as well as most of the associated
support systems. This milestone puts Centrus on track to
begin demonstrating first-of-a-kind production of High-Assay,
Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) in Piketon,
Ohio, by the end of 2023, after completing remaining support
systems and obtaining final approval from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission. This will be the first new U.S.-owned,
U.S.-technology enrichment plant to begin production in 70
years.
![Centrus Energy Corp., Bethesda, MD (PRNewsfoto/Centrus Energy Corp.) Centrus Energy Corp., Bethesda, MD (PRNewsfoto/Centrus Energy Corp.)](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/840946/Centrus_Energy__Logo.jpg)
"This is a major milestone for Centrus, for the advanced nuclear
sector, and for the vital effort to restore America's domestic
uranium enrichment capability," said Centrus Energy President and
CEO Daniel B. Poneman. "We are
strongly committed to pioneering production of HALEU to support the
deployment of U.S. advanced reactor designs around the world.
Our goal is to scale up this facility to meet the full range of
commercial, government, and national security requirements for
uranium enrichment, including Low-Enriched Uranium for existing
reactors and HALEU for advanced reactors."
HALEU is an advanced nuclear fuel required for most of the
next-generation reactor designs currently under development. Nine
of the ten advanced reactor designs selected for funding under the
Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Reactor Demonstration
Program, including the two demonstration reactors, will rely on
HALEU, as will the first non-light water reactor to enter licensing
review by the NRC.
Construction began in 2019 under a prior contract with
DOE. In November 2022, DOE
announced a new, competitively-awarded contract with Centrus to
finish the cascade, complete final regulatory steps, begin
operating the cascade, and produce HALEU for the production years
at the Department's sole discretion and subject to the availability
of Congressional appropriations.
Construction of the cascade and most of the support systems is
now complete. Centrus has also completed initial testing of the
cascade and support systems.
Before operations can begin, Centrus needs to finish
construction of the remaining support systems, including a fissile
materials storage area, so that the HALEU produced for the
Department can be stored onsite, and complete final operational
readiness reviews with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to obtain
NRC approval so that production can begin. The operational
readiness reviews are required under Centrus' Nuclear Regulatory
Commission license, which was successfully amended in 2021 to allow
for HALEU production, and made the Piketon site the only NRC-licensed HALEU
production facility. Cascade operations and HALEU production
are anticipated to begin by the end of 2023.
Expanding to Commercial Scale Production
Separate from the operations contract, Centrus is investigating
the possibility to scale up the Piketon facility with additional centrifuge
cascades for expanded HALEU production – provided that sufficient
funding or offtake contracts can be secured. A full-scale
HALEU cascade, consisting of 120 individual centrifuge machines,
with a combined capacity of approximately 6,000 kilograms of HALEU
per year (6 MTU/year), could be brought online within about 42
months of securing the funding to do so. Centrus has the
capability to add an additional cascade every six months after
that. Such an expansion would mobilize hundreds of union
workers in Ohio to build and
operate the plant and support thousands of direct and indirect jobs
across a manufacturing supply chain that is 100 percent domestic
and will be capable of meeting U.S. national security
requirements.
About Centrus Energy Corp.
Centrus Energy is a trusted supplier of nuclear fuel and
services for the nuclear power industry. Centrus provides value to
its utility customers through the reliability and diversity of its
supply sources – helping them meet the growing need for clean,
affordable, carbon-free electricity. Since 1998, the Company has
provided its utility customers with more than 1,750 reactor years
of fuel, which is equivalent to 7 billion tons of coal. With
world-class technical and engineering capabilities, Centrus is also
advancing the next generation of centrifuge technologies so that
America can restore its domestic uranium enrichment capability in
the future. Find out more at www.centrusenergy.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS:
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements
related to future events, which may impact our expected future
business and financial performance, and often contain words such as
"expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "will",
"should", "could", "would" or "may" and other words of similar
meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on information
available to us as of the date of this news release and represent
management's current views and assumptions. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or
results and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors, which may be beyond our control. For Centrus
Energy Corp., particular risks and uncertainties that could cause
our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed
in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to
the following which are, and will be, exacerbated by the COVID-19
pandemic and subsequent variants, and any worsening of the global
business and economic environment as a result; risks related to
whether or when government funding or demand for high-assay
low-enriched uranium ("HALEU") for government or commercial uses
will materialize; risks related to (i) our ability to perform and
absorb costs under our agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy
("DOE") to deploy and operate a cascade of centrifuges to
demonstrate production of HALEU for advanced reactors (the "HALEU
Operations Contract"), (ii) our ability to obtain contracts and
funding to be able to continue operations and (iii) our ability to
obtain and/or perform under other agreements; risks related to
uncertainty regarding our ability to commercially deploy a
competitive enrichment technology; risks related to the fact that
we face significant competition from major producers who may be
less cost sensitive or are wholly or partially government owned;
risks related to the impact of government regulation and policies
including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission;
and other risks and uncertainties discussed in this and our other
filings with the SEC.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this
news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that
could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any
forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements
should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. Readers
are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures
made in this news release and in our other filings with the SEC,
including our Annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2022, and our other
filings with the SEC that attempt to advise interested parties of
the risks and factors that may affect our business. We do not
undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news
release, except as required by law.
Contacts:
Investors: Dan Leistikow at
LeistikowD@centrusenergy.com
Media: Lindsey Geisler at
GeislerLR@centrusenergy.com
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SOURCE Centrus Energy Corp.