The US Department of Energy is directing $2.7 billion toward domestic uranium enrichment capacity over the next decade, split among four primary contractors selected in January 2026. Orano Federal Services received the largest award, $900 million, to expand domestic low-enriched uranium capacity, while Centrus Energy received a matching $900 million for its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. Global Laser Enrichment received approximately $28 million as part of the same funding round.

The investment is intended to expand US capacity for both standard low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium, known as HALEU, which is required to fuel most next-generation small modular reactor designs currently moving through licensing. The funding follows years of US reliance on foreign-sourced enriched uranium, including material previously imported from Russia, which the department has cited as a supply chain vulnerability.

Congress has continued to back nuclear fuel supply chain investment through the appropriations process. The Senate passed an Energy and Water Development appropriations bill in January 2026 that included $1.785 billion for the DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, funding that supports enrichment programs alongside separate reactor demonstration and research initiatives.

Centrus Energy's Piketon facility has drawn additional congressional attention, with lawmakers highlighting the site's role in a broader effort to rebuild a domestic enrichment supply chain that atrophied over several decades as commercial enrichment shifted overseas.

Source: US Department of Energy - https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-awards-27-billion-restore-american-uranium-enrichment