Centrus Energy signs multi-year HALEU supply deal with Antares Nuclear

Centrus Energy Corp. (NYSE: LEU) has signed a multi-year contract to supply High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) to Antares Nuclear, a company based in Torrance, California. The agreement includes prepayments from Antares to support expanded HALEU production capacity. Antares, founded in 2023, has received over $600 million in funding. The fuel will support Antares' advanced reactor projects, including compact microreactors for defense and space applications, as well as national security missions. Antares has achieved initial criticality of its Mark-0 microreactor in 2026 and plans to produce electricity from an advanced reactor in 2027. Initial deployments to U.S. military installations are scheduled to begin in 2028. Antares has been selected for the U.S. Army’s Janus Program at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the Air Force’s Advanced Nuclear Power for Installations program at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. It has also received a Space Force Strategic Breakthrough award to demonstrate a space reactor. Centrus operates the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, which the company describes as the only licensed HALEU production facility in the western world. Centrus launched an expansion last year covering large-scale production of HALEU and Low-Enriched Uranium. The contract specifies that production will be 'unobligated', meaning it can support national security missions. Centrus states its AC100 centrifuge design is the only deployment-ready enrichment technology capable of such unobligated enrichment. Amir Vexler, President and CEO of Centrus, stated: 'This contract is another sign that demand for HALEU is real and it is accelerating, and Centrus is in prime position to meet this need.' Jordan Bramble, CEO and Co-Founder of Antares, stated the contract provides 'a reliable, U.S.-origin source of HALEU for the reactors we're deploying for a wide variety of defense and space customers.'