Oak Ridge at heart of US enrichment supply chain developments

Centrus's plans for a major expansion of its facility at Oak Ridge to a "high-rate manufacturing plant" were announced by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Deputy Governor Stuart McWhorter and Centrus Energy President and CEO Amir Vexler. The expansion will see the creation of nearly 430 new jobs as Centrus invests more than USD560 million over "several years" to support both the growth in workforce and investment in the production of thousands of advanced centrifuges.

The company announced in December that it had started manufacturing centrifuges at Oak Ridge - relying on a domestic manufacturing supply chain - to support its commercial low-enriched uranium enrichment activities at Piketon, Ohio, where it plans a major expansion of its uranium enrichment plant to help the company meet America’s commercial and national security requirements.

The company was recently awarded funding from the US Department of Energy (DOE) to expand its uranium enrichment plant in Ohio with centrifuges produced in Tennessee. It has also utilised funding from Tennessee’s USD70 million Nuclear Energy Fund, which is administered through the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

"These advanced centrifuges are essential to meeting America's energy security and national security requirements," Vexler said. "We are honoured to be a part of the vibrant ecosystem of nuclear energy leaders in East Tennessee and grateful for the strong support of federal, state and local leaders here."

National security boost

BWX Technologies (BWXT) described its newly opened Centrifuge Manufacturing Development Facility (CMDF) as a major milestone in the company's efforts to reestablish a fully domestic uranium enrichment capability in support of US national security priorities.

_{The CMDF (Image: BWXT)}

The Centrifuge Manufacturing Development Facility is BWXT's primary hub for the design, engineering, fabrication and testing of advanced gas centrifuge machines, and the company said it will accelerate the transition of centrifuge technology from development to production readiness and aligns with national priorities for energy security, defence readiness and advanced manufacturing. Construction began in June 2025.

"I am so impressed with the speed at which the BWXT team moved, from breaking ground in late June to standing up this facility just seven months later," said BWXT President and CEO Rex Geveden. "With the CMDF now operational, we are positioned to move centrifuge technology from development into production readiness while strengthening America's sovereign nuclear supply chain."

The facility features precision manufacturing space, in-house quality assurance and testing capabilities and specialised infrastructure to support future centrifuge production. It will accelerate the transition of centrifuge technology from development to production readiness and aligns with national priorities for energy security, defence readiness and advanced manufacturing, the company said.

In September, the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awarded BWXT a contract worth USD1.5 billion for a comprehensive programme that supports its strategy to ensure a secure and reliable supply of enriched uranium for defence fuel needs. BWXT's centrifuges will not be used to produce enriched uranium for the commercial nuclear power industry, but the opening of the Centrifuge Manufacturing Development Facility represents a "key milestone in BWXT's broader strategy to establish a secure, domestic uranium enrichment supply chain and reinforces the company's commitment to US national security and technological leadership," the company said. Some 100 highly skilled professionals are currently working in support of the facility and project activities, with plans to expand the workforce in future.

"Oak Ridge and East Tennessee continue to be at the tip of the spear to create America's New Nuclear Future that will secure our energy independence and strengthen our national security," said Chuck Fleischmann, chairman of the House Energy and Water Appropriations Committee. "After years of deliberate decline, we are revitalising our domestic nuclear industry and making America into the global leader in new nuclear."

Laser expansion

Earlier in January, Lee and McWhorter came together with Laser Isotope Separation Technologies (LIS Technologies) to announce plans for an expansion of LIS Technologies' activities at Oak Ridge, with the creation of 203 jobs and investment of USD1.38 billion in a facility located on the historic K-25 uranium enrichment site. LIS said the newly acquired site will be redeveloped to house the company's commercial laser-based uranium enrichment headquarters.

_{LIS Technologies' rendering of its LIST Island facility at Oak Ridge (Image: LIS Technologies)}

This is the third-largest nuclear-related investment since the creation of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development's Nuclear Energy Fund, the company said.

LIS Technologies Inc is developing a patented advanced laser technology using infrared lasers to selectively excite the molecules of desired isotopes to separate them from other isotopes, and lays claim to being the only USA-origin (and patented) laser uranium enrichment company. (The technology being deployed by Wilmington, North Carolina-based Global Laser Enrichment was originally developed in Australia).

The Oak Ridge Reservation, in eastern Tennessee, is one of the three original sites in the Manhattan Project. It was home to the K-25 and Y-12 plants which were built to explore different methods to enrich uranium. The DOE terminated uranium enrichment operations in Oak Ridge in 1987, and following remediation and cleanup work, thousands of acres of land have been transferred for economic development. The area is now known as the East Tennessee Technology Park.