Centrus Energy has shipped the first new centrifuge manufactured at its Oak Ridge, Tennessee, plant to its Piketon, Ohio, enrichment site, marking a concrete step in a multibillion-dollar capacity expansion. The company said the shipment was completed ahead of its previously announced year-end target.

From Tennessee to Ohio

The first machine left Oak Ridge for final assembly in Ohio on Oct. 29, 2026. New centrifuges produced in Tennessee will be grouped into cascades at Piketon, where Centrus expects the first new uranium enrichment capacity to come online in 2029.

Centrus restarted centrifuge manufacturing at Oak Ridge in December 2025. In January 2026, it announced a US$560 million investment to expand and modernize the Oak Ridge Technology and Manufacturing Center into a high-rate manufacturing plant capable of supporting production of thousands of advanced centrifuges. The company also completed its strategic acquisition of Westerman Holdings, a key supplier of centrifuge casings and other major components, as part of securing its supply chain.

A domestic manufacturing base

Centrus says Oak Ridge is the only advanced centrifuge manufacturing plant in the United States with proven, de-risked technology. It adds that all other centrifuge technologies in commercial operation today are manufactured exclusively overseas, and that Centrus relies on an exclusively domestic supply chain.

Centrus' existing Ohio cascade includes components manufactured in 2019 and has more than four million machine-hours of successful operation, according to the company.

The newly manufactured machines entering the expansion assembly pipeline are separate from that operating equipment. Centrus' existing Ohio cascade has produced HALEU since late 2023 under a DOE contract. The expansion is intended to add large-scale LEU production for the existing reactor fleet, HALEU for next-generation reactors, and enrichment for national security needs.

Centrus did not disclose an installation date for the first new machine or annual enrichment output for the initial 2029 capacity. Its next scheduled financial update is its third-quarter report after market close on Nov. 4, 2026, followed by a shareholder call at 8:30 a.m. EST on Nov. 5.

This article was assisted by AI analysis. Please refer to the original source for official information.