US Centrus Energy Corp has completed construction of a demonstration cascade of advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges and major supporting systems in Piketon, Ohio. This is a step towards US first-of-a-kind production of High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) planned for the end of 2023, assuming it completes the remaining support systems and obtains final approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This will be the first new US technology enrichment plant to begin production in 70 years.
HALEU is an advanced nuclear fuel required for most of the next-generation reactor designs currently under development. HALEU is uranium that has been enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium 235 (U-235). This is higher than the 3-5% U-235 low-enriched uranium fuels used in the existing fleet of light water reactors.
Nine of the 10 advanced reactor designs selected for funding under the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP) will need HALEU. This includes two demonstration reactors -Terrapower’s Natrium sodium-cooled fast reactor and X-energy’s Xe-100 high temperature gas-cooled reactor. However, currently the only company able to supply HALEU fuel is Russia’s Techsnabexport (Tenex).
“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 & CEO Daniel B Poneman. “We are strongly committed to pioneering production of HALEU to support the deployment of US 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.”
In November 2022, DOE announced a new, competitively-awarded contract with Centrus to finish the cascade, complete final regulatory steps and begin operation. In December, Centrus Energy’s wholly-owned subsidiary, American Centrifuge Operating (ACO), signed a “definitised” contract with DOE to pioneer production of HALEU. As part of a previous, cost-shared contract awarded in 2019, Centrus had been deploying its AC100M advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges in Piketon and had secured a licence amendment from the NRC, making it the only NRC-licensed HALEU production site.
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 DOE can be stored onsite. It must also complete final operational readiness reviews with the NRC to obtain approval to begin production. The operational readiness reviews are required under Centrus’s NRC licence, which was successfully amended in 2021 to allow for HALEU production.
Centrus says it is also investigating the possibility of scaling up the Piketon facility with additional centrifuge cascades for expanded HALEU production. This depends on securing sufficient funding or offtake contracts. A full-scale HALEU cascade comprises 120 individual centrifuge machines, with a combined capacity of approximately 6,000 kilograms of HALEU a year (6 MTU/year). This could be brought online within about 42 months of securing the funding with the capability to add an additional cascade every six months. Such expansion would support thousands of direct and indirect jobs across a 100% domestic manufacturing supply chain, Centrus notes. It would be capable of meeting US national security requirements.
Image: The HALEU demonstration cascade at Piketon (courtesy of Centrus)
