BROWN ANNOUNCES MAJOR INVESTMENT FOR ADVANCED NUCLEAR FUELS PRODUCTION IN PIKETON

AFTER DECADES-LONG PUSH, BROWN ANNOUNCES MAJOR INVESTMENT FOR ADVANCED NUCLEAR FUELS PRODUCTION IN PIKETON
Brown Has Long Supported Pike County Reindustrialization Efforts That Would Create Jobs and Restore U.S. Leadership in Nuclear Energy
Piketon Will Play a Critical Role in Bringing the Nuclear Supply Chain Back to America from Russia
Partnership Will Create Good-Paying Jobs and Opens the Door to Significant Future Investment
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Thursday, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced a major new partnership between Centrus Energy Corporation and the Department of Energy (DOE) to spur the buildout of a U.S. supply chain for fuels for advanced nuclear reactors. The DOE is entering into a partnership with Centrus to produce High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU), a critical component for advanced nuclear power production, at their American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. Centrus is one of four awardees who will each receive a minimum of $2.5 million for HALEU enrichment activities. A maximum total of $2.7 billion may be awarded by the DOE across the four partnerships.
“Ohio workers in Appalachia have powered our nation for generations, and Piketon workers are continuing that proud tradition,” said Brown. “This investment will help develop new enrichment technologies, support American energy independence and promote our national security – while bringing good-paying, union jobs to the area.”
“Centrus is proud to be pioneering HALEU production in Ohio and appreciates the support of Senator Brown in working with members of both parties to secure federal funding for what we hope will be a major expansion of our Piketon facility,” said Centrus President and CEO Amir Vexler. “This would create hundreds skilled union jobs in Ohio during construction and operation, as well as thousands of jobs across a nationwide supply chain of American companies. It puts Ohio at the forefront of the effort to reclaim American leadership in uranium enrichment.”
“The USW is excited to begin hiring people for the new jobs that the announced funding will create. The Steelworkers are preparing for a significant amount of work, and we are eager to start hiring and training. We aim to grow as quickly as possible to meet the opportunity at the Centrus operation in Piketon,” said Herman Potter, President of United Steelworkers Local 689 in Piketon. “None of this would have been possible without Senator Brown. On behalf of our members, the USW thanks Senator Brown for being a tireless advocate and champion for the USW over the years. His hard work and dedication to union labor and American jobs made all of this possible."
Many advanced reactors will require HALEU to achieve smaller designs, longer operating cycles, and increased efficiencies over current technologies. Advancing America’s domestic HALEU supply chain will help reinforce America’s leadership in the nuclear energy sector and strengthen national security by removing reliance on global suppliers of HALEU, like the Russian Federation.
This investment builds on Centrus’ work to pilot HALEU production in Piketon, places Southern Ohio at the center of America’s renewed commitment to nuclear energy, and will lead to
hundreds of new jobs while attracting new investments to the region from businesses that are developing the future of advanced nuclear reactors.
For decades, Brown has been a champion of bringing new jobs and investments to the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Pike County. This includes supporting the development of the American Centrifuge Project by securing numerous investments since 2010. Brown has continued to push both Congress and the President in the last year to bolster the domestic nuclear energy sector by prioritizing direct support for American HALEU and traditional Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) production. Earlier this week, Brown announced another partnership with the DOE to develop a new site to recycle surface contaminated nickel in Piketon, and in August he secured a new USW job training center in Piketon to prepare local workers with the necessary skills to secure good-paying, union jobs in new energy industries and advanced manufacturing.
In this year’s bipartisan government funding package, Brown secured $2.7 billion to implement the Nuclear Fuel Security Act and restart domestic uranium enrichment activities, including both HALEU and LEU production. This investment will increase US production of both fuel sources, helping to end our reliance on Russian HALEU and LEU. Brown cosponsored the inclusion of the Nuclear Fuel Security Act in the 2023 National Defense Package to jump start American uranium enrichment. He has also pushed Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to ensure the implementation of the Nuclear Fuel Security Act prioritizes companies, like Centrus, that are American-owned and utilize both American technology and union workers. In addition to the $2.7 billion included in this year’s bipartisan government funding package, $700 million was provided to support the development of a domestic HALEU supply chain in the Inflation Reduction Act, which Brown helped to write and pass. Today’s announcement is backed by both pieces of legislation.