Nuclear fuel startup
Appears in 3 stories · Last updated Nov 1, 2026
Awarded $900M DOE contract; license application under NRC review
Centrus shipped its first new centrifuge from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, to Piketon, Ohio, on Thursday, October 29. It is the first new machine from the Oak Ridge plant since production restarted in December 2025, and the company beat its own year-end target. The machines will be grouped into cascades, which are linked sets of centrifuges that enrich uranium.
Updated Nov 1
As of July 2026: NRC accepted its first license application in October 2026
A coalition led by Brookfield and NextEra Energy is turning part of the former Paducah uranium plant into an AI computing campus with its own gas plants and batteries. The Department of Energy signed a lease for about 785 acres at the site in July 2026, and the campus is slated for full build-out by 2032.
Updated Jul 29
As of May 2026: Planning first privately-funded U.S. enrichment facility
The United States performed less than 1% of global uranium enrichment when the Department of Energy announced $2.7 billion in contracts to three companies on January 21, 2026. Russia controls 44% of global enrichment capacity and supplied roughly a quarter of American reactor fuel until Congress banned imports in 2024. The last U.S.-owned enrichment facility shut down in 2013.
Updated May 22
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