US-based X-energy and Centrus Energy Corp have signed a definitive agreement whereby Centrus will provide X-energy with enrichment services for low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). The agreement is intended to de-risks X-energy’s Xe-100 project pipeline and to secure HALEU to support a portion of the initial fuel needs of X-energy’s planned 11.5 GWe commercial pipeline.
The Xe-100 is an 80 MWe helium-cooled HTGR that can be deployed in modular 4-unit or 12-unit configurations. The design simultaneously generates grid electricity and high-temperature heat/steam. This makes it ideal for heavy industrial decarbonisation. It uses X-energy’s TRISO-X Tri-structural Isotropic particle fuel pebbles.
The X-energy-Centrus partnership combines the capabilities of the first two US HALEU fuel facilities to be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). HALEU enriched by Centrus at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio will be supplied to X-energy’s fuel subsidiary TRISO-X, for the fabrication of TRISO-X coated particle fuel at its fuel fabrication campus in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In February, TRISO-X received a 40-year Special Nuclear Material Licence from NRC enabling TRISO-X to commercially manufacture fuel using HALEU under a single licence.
HALEU, enriched to approximately 15.5% uranium-235, is the primary feedstock for X-energy’s TRISO-X coated particle fuel, and enables the Xe-100 to operate more efficiently, achieve higher temperatures, extend operating cycles, and deliver greater performance than conventional reactors fueled with LEU (enriched to around 5% U-235). These characteristics enable designs like the Xe-100 to provide both electricity, and process heat for industrial applications.
X-energy has a potential commercial pipeline for the Xe-100 of more than 11 GWe based on projects in the US and UK. Because each individual Xe-100 unit generates 80 MWe of power, this pipeline represents a global deployment of around 144 advanced reactors. The agreements underpinning X-energy’s major commercial projects were signed between 2023 and 2025.
In March 2023, Dow and X-energy finalised a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) to deploy a four-unit reactor plant at an industrial facility in Seadrift, Texas. In October 2024, Amazon Web Services (AWS) anchored an approximate $500m Series C-1 financing round for X-energy and signed a formal partnership to fund and deploy over 5 GWe of SMR capacity to power its data centres. Centrica signed a JDA with X-energy in September 2025 to establish a UK-based development firm and pursue a 6 GWe fleet.
The agreement allows for prepayments from X-Energy to Centrus “under a phased approach to scale HALEU production to the advancement of X-energy’s commercial pipeline. X-energy previously secured the initial HALEU required to fuel its Xe-100 project with Dow through the Department of Energy’s HALEU Availability Program.
Prepayment arrangements and government funding have mitigated uncertainties with advanced reactor developers needing to know they will have the fuel for their projects, while the fuel companies want to be assured of future demand before investing in new facilities. Centrus says it has a $3bn “contingent LEU and HALEU backlog, of which $2.4bn is definitised”.
“X-energy is pleased to take the next step in our strategy to secure a portion of the HALEU our current and future customers will need to deploy advanced reactors at scale,” said X-energy CEO J Clay Sell. “Our approach is to build a resilient, long-term fuel supply strategy by partnering with enrichment providers that are investing in new HALEU production capacity. Through our agreement with Centrus, X energy has secured enrichment capacity that will support our customers’ initial fuel needs through the market’s transition to a robust commercial HALEU supply.”
Amir Vexler, President and CEO of Centrus, noted: “This is another significant agreement that validates Centrus as the go-to, de-risked supplier of HALEU to the global market. Agreements like these provide important non-dilutive, non-debt capital to support our build-out and serves to advance commercial LEU and HALEU capacity expansion.”
