Centrus Energy has completed its first newly manufactured centrifuge at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and begun shipping the equipment to Piketon, Ohio, for final assembly. The shipment connects the company’s expanding specialist manufacturing operation with a planned increase in US uranium enrichment capacity. Centrus has also established the domestic component supply chain required for the expansion, reaching both milestones ahead of its year-end target. New enrichment capacity is expected to begin operating in 2029, following further manufacturing, installation and commissioning.
Centrus restarted centrifuge manufacturing at Oak Ridge in December 2025, followed by a $560m investment programme in January to modernise and enlarge its Technology and Manufacturing Center. Its intended production rate is measured in thousands of advanced machines as the programme develops. Manufacturing has already involved thousands of individual components, creating the need to manage suppliers, inspections and assembly sequences as completed equipment begins moving to Ohio. The first shipment gives the programme a physical unit against which this wider production route can be established.
A uranium enrichment centrifuge separates uranium isotopes by spinning uranium hexafluoride gas at high speed. The small difference between the masses of uranium-235 and uranium-238 results in a modest change in isotopic concentration within the rotating gas. A single machine supplies only part of the required enrichment, so units are connected into cascades that progressively produce material with the specified concentration. The equipment consequently depends on precise rotors, bearings, vacuum systems, seals, control equipment and the reliable operation of many connected machines over sustained periods.
Scaling that equipment from an initial unit to repeated manufacture demands dimensional accuracy, material consistency and disciplined quality records across numerous components. Variations in precision-made parts can affect a machine’s mechanical characteristics and the reliability of assembly. Centrus has been ordering tens of thousands of parts from US manufacturers while increasing throughput at Oak Ridge. Coordinating this supplier network with factory production requires consistent specifications, traceability and delivery of parts in the order needed by the assembly process. The supplier quality record must also connect components to their manufacturing batches, particularly as more parts pass through several production and assembly stages before a centrifuge is accepted.
Westerman Holdings supplies centrifuge casings and other major components, and Centrus completed its acquisition of the company earlier in October. That separate transaction adds a specialist manufacturing operation to the group just as equipment shipments begin. Control over a critical supplier may help coordinate production schedules and component availability, while the broader programme remains dependent on suppliers meeting technical requirements. Centrus’s earlier Westerman acquisition forms part of this wider manufacturing expansion.
At Piketon, an existing cascade has produced high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) since late 2023 under a US Department of Energy programme. Centrus reports more than four million machine-hours of operation for its centrifuge technology, providing an established technical basis for further deployment. Expanding beyond that cascade will require installation and qualification of many more machines, associated controls and the process infrastructure that connects them. The accumulated operating record informs the development programme, while the enlarged plant will need to demonstrate dependable performance at its new scale.
The expansion is designed to support several types of nuclear fuel demand. Conventional low-enriched uranium is used in the established commercial reactor fleet, while high-assay, low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, is being specified for some advanced reactor designs. The company also identifies national security applications among its intended markets. Although the same enrichment technology can contribute to multiple programmes, each supply route has separate commercial, regulatory and operational requirements. Centrus describes its manufacturing supply chain as domestic and unobligated, a characteristic it associates with serving those different markets.
Once delivered, the new equipment will undergo final assembly, connection into cascades, integration with process controls and commissioning. Manufacturing rate, installation sequencing and acceptance checks will influence how quickly additional machines are available for service. Centrus expects the first added capacity to come online in 2029, with subsequent progress dependent on the broader expansion programme. The intermediate milestones will be further completed units, deliveries to Ohio, assembly and successful start-up of additional cascades.
The Oak Ridge shipment establishes a practical link between the company’s investment in precision manufacturing and its enrichment facilities in Ohio. Higher production throughput and a reliable US supplier network will determine how quickly equipment is available for installation. The first capacity increase remains targeted for 2029, following the successive steps from component manufacture through cascade commissioning to sustained enrichment operations.
