Energy
Fluor Tapped to Expand Ohio Uranium Enrichment Plant
Multi-year contract will support expansion of low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium production
Expansion of HALEU cascade centrifuges are part of the contract awarded to Fluor Corp. to expanduranium enrichment for nuclear power
In another sign of increased interest in nuclear power and the infrastructure needed to support it, Fluor Corp. has been selected as engineering, procurement and construction contractor for expansion of the Centrus Energy uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio, the company announced.
Under a multiyear contract awarded by Centrus subsidiary American Centrifuge Operating LLC, Fluor will support added low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium production at the plant. The work includes engineering and design for expanded capacity, procurement of materials and services, construction management and commissioning support.
Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.
The project is part of a broader multibillion-dollar public- and private-sector investment aimed at installing thousands of additional centrifuges at the Piketon site, formerly owned by the federal govenment for uranium enrichment used for nuclear weapons and commercial power. It closed in 2001 and now is being repurposed to support advanced nuclear technology. In January, the U.S. Energy Dept. awarded three task orders totaling $2.7 billion to three companies, including American Centrifuge Operating, looking to expand domestic production of enriched uranium to boost the U.S. nuclear p0wer sector.
Low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium are forms of nuclear fuel differentiated by the concentration of the fissile isotope uranium-235. Both are used for civilian nuclear power generation, not nuclear weapons, but serve different reactor technologies.
“This project secures Fluor’s foundational position in the critical U.S. uranium enrichment market by supporting the re-establishment of a domestic low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium capability,” said Al Collins, president of Fluor’s Mission Solutions business group, in a statement.
“This project is unique in that it not only supports the United States’ fuels enrichment mission, which is critical to national security, but it also has an interesting technical design,” said Bob Smith, senior vice president of Fluor’s nuclear and environmental business.
The expansion is expected to position Centrus as a leading domestic supplier of low-enriched uranium for existing nuclear reactors while significantly increasing its capacity to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium, a fuel required for many advanced nuclear reactor designs now under development, the company said.
The Piketon facility is one of only two licensed U.S. sites for low-enriched uranium production and the only licensed high-assay low-enriched uranium production facility in the Western world, according to American Centrifuge Operating.
The project is expected to generate more than 1,300 jobs in Ohio during construction and operations.
The announcement comes as Fluor is set to announce on Feb. 17, its year end 2025 and quarter-four results. Analysts have estimated Q4 earnings of $0.34 per share and revenue of about $4.27 billion, with backlog estimated at more than $28 billion at year-end. Fluor is set to continue monetizing its stake in NuScale Power, a small modular nuclear reactor developer but also is expected to note continuing legal charges and delays on specific projects.
