Centrus to Invest $560M in Tennessee
The manufacturing facility will produce centrifuges used in uranium enrichment.
Nuclear fuel supplier Centrus will expand its Oak Ridge, Tenn., facility into a large-scale manufacturing plant with a $560 million investment.
This Tennessee property will produce advanced centrifuges, which Centrus will then use to enrich uranium at another facility in Piketon, Ohio. The one-of-a-kind manufacturing plant is expected to deliver the first centrifuges by 2029.
The U.S. Department of Energy funded the expansion, as part of its $2.7 billion in total commitments toward restoring the nation’s uranium enrichment program, as did the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Fund. Approximately 430 jobs will be created as a result of this development.
Oak Ridge is roughly 24 miles west of downtown Knoxville, Tenn., and approximately 163 miles east of Nashville, Tenn. Interstate 40 runs about 15 miles south.
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The expansion aligns with Centrus’ plans to support its low-enriched uranium production to meet its growing backlog of $2.3 billion in sales to U.S. and international customers. The company has sold more than 1,850 reactor-years of fuel since 1998, equivalent to more than 7 billion tons of coal.
Some of Centrus’ deals include collaborations with TerraPower and Oklo. These two firms are some of the companies that will provide nuclear power to Meta’s data center project in Albany, Ohio, dubbed Prometheus.
Nuclear power becomes attractive for data centers
With data center demand possibly rising fivefold by 2035, according to Deloitte research, nuclear power may present a potential solution to alleviate grid concerns through its reliable and clean energy profile.
Still, nuclear might cover just about 10 percent of that demand, which Deloitte estimates around 176 gigawatts. The U.S. had 94 operating nuclear reactors, with the average plant being 42 years old in 2025.
Seeking to aid in meeting this demand, the current administration revealed plans late last year to invest upward of $80 billion in a partnership with Westinghouse Electric Co., Brookfield Asset Management and Cameco Corp. to develop nuclear reactors throughout the nation.
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