Centrus Energy has shipped the first centrifuge built at its Oak Ridge, Tennessee manufacturing plant to Piketon, Ohio for final assembly, beating its own year-end target. It is the first time a U.S.-built advanced centrifuge has moved from a domestic production line to an American enrichment site.
From Oak Ridge to Piketon
The completed machines will be grouped into cascades and integrated into the Piketon facility, where Centrus has been producing HALEU from an existing cascade since late 2023. Components in that first cascade were manufactured in 2019, with some older still, and the company says its machines have collectively logged more than four million operating hours.
According to Centrus, Oak Ridge is the only advanced centrifuge manufacturing plant in the United States with proven, de-risked technology — while all other centrifuge technologies in commercial operation today are manufactured exclusively overseas.
$560 million, 430 jobs and a casing acquisition
Centrus restarted centrifuge manufacturing at Oak Ridge in December 2025 and in January 2026 announced a $560 million investment to expand and modernize the facility into a high-rate plant capable of building thousands of machines, adding nearly 430 jobs. In October 2026 the company closed its $116 million purchase of casing maker Westerman Holdings — $95 million in cash and $21 million in stock — to anchor a domestic component supply chain for both commercial and national security demand.
What the build-out is meant to deliver
The initial build-out includes 12 metric tons per year of HALEU capacity, alongside large-scale LEU for the existing reactor fleet and enrichment for national security needs, plus output against a $2.4 billion LEU backlog. Centrus expects the first new enrichment capacity to come online in 2029, when the first new cascade must deliver.
The schedule is demanding. Centrus must install thousands of machines at Piketon within roughly three years, and the HALEU side of the business depends on advanced reactors that are still under construction. The centrifuge shipment proves the manufacturing line works; it does not yet prove the demand curve.
This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.