American Centrifuge Operating successfully completes operational readiness reviews with the NRC and is authorized to enrich limited quantities of uranium hexafluoride gas into HALEU.
June 21, 2023
minute read time
Advanced centrifuge cascade in Piketon, Ohio.
American Centrifuge Operating (ACO), a subsidiary of Centrus Energy Corp, is moving closer to operating an advanced centrifuge cascade in Piketon, OH to produce the nation’s first amount of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU)—a crucial material needed to develop and deploy advanced reactors in the United States.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently cleared the facility to start up enrichment operations for the U.S. Department of Energy’s first-of-a-kind HALEU demonstration project.
The demonstration project is on track to produce 20 kilograms of HALEU before the end of the year.
A Pressing Need for HALEU
HALEU is required by many advanced reactor designs to achieve smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and increased efficiencies over current technologies.
It is not available from domestic suppliers and gaps in the nation’s fuel cycle infrastructure could delay the deployment of advanced reactors in a timeframe that supports the nation’s target to reach a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
The Piketon plant is currently the only facility in the U.S. licensed to enrich uranium up to HALEU levels of 20 percent.
ACO will now work toward completing the construction of an on-site HALEU storage area and wrap up final testing activities prior to operating the cascade.
The HALEU demonstration project is one of several pathways DOE is pursuing to produce HALEU through its HALEU Availability Program.