The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $2.7 billion to strengthen domestic uranium enrichment services over a ten-year period. The program was announced in January 2026 and operates under authority granted by the Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act, which restricted imports that had supplied a substantial share of U.S. reactor fuel.
The funding targets two fuel categories. The first is low-enriched uranium, the standard fuel for the existing U.S. reactor fleet. The second is high-assay low-enriched uranium, known as HALEU, an enrichment grade required by most advanced reactor designs now moving through licensing. Domestic HALEU production capacity has been minimal, and several advanced reactor developers have identified fuel supply as a schedule risk.
Centrus Energy received a cornerstone award of $900 million to expand commercial operations at its Piketon, Ohio facility, covering both conventional low-enriched uranium and HALEU output. Piketon currently hosts the only licensed HALEU production line in the country.
Orano Federal Services is directing its award toward Oak Ridge, Tennessee, where the company is developing Project Ike, a $5 billion low-enriched uranium enrichment facility. The company's NRC license submission was tracking to early 2026.
The awards represent the largest federal commitment to enrichment infrastructure in decades. Building centrifuge capacity involves long construction timelines and specialized supply chains, and the ten-year structure of the program reflects that horizon rather than near-term output.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy - https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-awards-27-billion-restore-american-uranium-enrichment