PIKETON, Ohio — Centrus Energy Corp. has signed a multi-year contract to supply high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel to Antares Nuclear, a California-based microreactor developer building reactors for U.S. defense and space missions, the company announced.
Under the deal, Centrus will produce the specialized fuel, known as HALEU, at its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon — the only licensed HALEU production facility in the western world, according to the company. Deliveries are set to begin before the end of the decade, and the contract includes prepayments from Antares to help fund the plant’s ongoing capacity expansion.
“This contract is another sign that demand for HALEU is real and accelerating,” Centrus President and CEO Amir Vexler said in a statement. “Centrus is in prime position to meet this need.”
Antares, founded in 2023 and headquartered in Torrance, California, has raised more than $600 million and reached initial reactor criticality earlier this year. The company has been selected to supply microreactors for the U.S. Army’s Janus Program as well as Air Force and Space Force projects, according to Centrus.
“This contract gives Antares a reliable, U.S.-origin source of HALEU for reactors we’re deploying for defense and space customers,” Antares CEO and co-founder Jordan Bramble said in a statement.
The fuel supplied under the agreement qualifies as “unobligated” enrichment, meaning it carries no foreign restrictions and is suitable for U.S. national security applications, the company said.
The Antares agreement is the latest in a string of HALEU supply contracts Centrus has signed this year as it ramps up production at the Piketon site, following a similar multi-year deal with microreactor developer Radiant earlier this month. The company has also been building out its Pike County workforce and enrichment capacity, a buildout Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and JobsOhio officials toured in August.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Centrus Energy Corp.
