X-Energy and Centrus Energy announced a definitive agreement on August 6 under which Centrus will provide enrichment services for both low enriched uranium and high assay low enriched uranium. At full execution the arrangement would secure fuel for part of the initial needs of X-energy's 11.5 gigawatt commercial project pipeline for its Xe-100 reactor.
The agreement links the first two facilities licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for high assay low enriched uranium work in US history. Material enriched by Centrus at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio will move to X-energy's fuel subsidiary TRISO-X for fabrication of coated particle fuel at its campus in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The companies structured commitments in phases, scaling enrichment capacity over a period of years as the reactor pipeline advances.
High assay low enriched uranium is enriched to approximately 15.5% uranium-235, compared with the sub 5% material used in conventional reactors. The higher enrichment allows the Xe-100 design to reach higher temperatures and run longer operating cycles, which supports both electricity generation and process heat for industrial customers.
X-energy chief executive J. Clay Sell said the company's approach is to partner with enrichment providers that are investing in new production capacity. The company had previously secured initial fuel for its first Xe-100 project with Dow through the Department of Energy's HALEU Availability Program. In February 2026, TRISO-X received a 40 year special nuclear material license from the NRC, the first new fuel fabrication facility the agency has licensed in more than 50 years.
Source: X-energy - https://x-energy.com/news/x-energy-centrus-sign-haleu-supplyagreement-for-xe-100-advanced-small-modular-reactor-development/