Centrus to supply HALEU for Antares space reactors

(SpaceEnergy) Centrus Energy has signed a multi-year contract to supply Antares Nuclear with US-produced high-assay low-enriched uranium for advanced reactors, including systems intended for space missions.

Deliveries of HALEU are due to begin before the end of the decade. Antares will make prepayments under the contract to support expansion of Centrus's domestic enrichment capacity. The companies did not disclose the contract value or fuel volumes.

Antares is developing compact fission microreactors for terrestrial and space applications. The company was selected this month for a US Space Force Strategic Breakthrough award to demonstrate a space reactor.

Centrus said the fuel will be produced using its US-origin enrichment technology and supply chain, allowing it to provide “unobligated” enrichment suitable for US national-security applications.

The company is expanding its American Centrifuge Plant at Piketon, Ohio, which it describes as the only licensed HALEU production facility in the Western world. The expansion includes planned large-scale production of HALEU and low-enriched uranium.

“Fuel supply is one of the practical questions every advanced reactor developer has to answer,” Antares chief executive and co-founder Jordan Bramble said. “This contract gives Antares a reliable, U.S.-origin source of HALEU for the reactors we're deploying for a wide variety of defense and space customers.”