BETHESDA, Md., June 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Centrus Energy
Corp. (NYSE American: LEU) today announced that the Company's
application to produce High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) at
its Piketon, Ohio, facility has
been accepted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for formal
review. HALEU-based fuels will be required for most of the advanced
reactor designs currently under development and may also be
utilized in next-generation fuels for the existing fleet of
reactors in the United States and
around the world.
"With support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Centrus is
proud to be leading the way in the development of a domestic source
of HALEU that can meet a wide range of commercial, nonproliferation
and other national security requirements," said Daniel B. Poneman, Centrus President and CEO.
"Providing an assured, domestic supply of HALEU will help restore
U.S. nuclear leadership internationally, and is a prerequisite for
the United States to play a major
role in building and fueling the world's nuclear reactors and
setting global standards for nuclear safety and nonproliferation.
We appreciate the dedicated work by the NRC on this initial step
and look forward to working with them as the process moves forward
from here."
In 2019, Centrus entered into a three-year, $115 million cost-shared contract with the U.S.
Department of Energy to deploy its AC-100M centrifuge technology
and to demonstrate production of HALEU. The demonstration program
is on schedule and on budget, with the first set of outer casings
for the centrifuges delivered to Piketon after being manufactured in
Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Centrus' Piketon, Ohio,
facility is already licensed to enrich uranium to a Uranium-235
(U-235) concentration of up to 10 percent, making it the only U.S.
facility licensed for enrichment above 5 percent. Upon final
approval of this license amendment, Centrus would be licensed to
enrich uranium up to 20 percent U-235. Next-generation reactors and
fuel designs will require a range of enrichment levels, but many
are expected to be as high as 19.75 percent. A number of advanced
reactor and fuels developers have announced plans to use
HALEU-based fuel in their designs.
A recent report by the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group cited
HALEU as a key step toward re-establishing U.S. leadership in
advanced nuclear technology. This echoes the findings of an
April 2020 survey by the U.S. Nuclear
Infrastructure Council in which U.S. advanced reactor companies
identified the availability of HALEU as the number one issue that
"keep(s) you up at night."
What is HALEU?
When uranium ore is extracted from the earth, the concentration
of the fissile isotope Uranium-235 is less than one percent. Most
existing reactors in the United
States and worldwide operate on Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU)
fuel that has been enriched to increase the concentration of the
U-235 isotope to slightly less than 5 percent. High-Assay
Low-Enriched Uranium is further
enriched so that the U-235 concentration is between 5 percent and
20 percent. While this is still far below the levels needed to
produce weapons or power U.S. Navy vessels, HALEU offers unique
advantages as an advanced nuclear fuel for both existing and next
generation reactors, including greater power density, improved
reactor performance, fewer refueling outages, improved
proliferation resistance, and smaller volumes of
waste.
About Centrus Energy
Centrus Energy is a trusted supplier of nuclear fuel and
services for the nuclear power industry. Centrus provides value to
its utility customers through the reliability and diversity of its
supply sources – helping them meet the growing need for clean,
affordable, carbon-free electricity. Since 1998, the Company has
provided its utility customers with more than 1,750 reactor years
of fuel, which is equivalent to 7 billion tons of coal. With
world-class technical and engineering capabilities, Centrus is also
advancing the next generation of centrifuge technologies so that
America can restore its domestic uranium enrichment capability in
the future. Find out more at www.centrusenergy.com.
Forward Looking Statements:
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements related
to future events, may address our expected future business and
financial performance, and often contain words such as "expects",
"anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "will", "should",
"could", "would" or "may" and other words of similar meaning.
Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that
are, to different degrees, uncertain. For Centrus Energy Corp.,
particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual
future results to differ materially from those expressed in our
forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the
following, which may be amplified by the novel coronavirus
(COVID-19) pandemic: risks related to our significant long-term
liabilities, including material unfunded defined benefit pension
plan obligations and postretirement health and life benefit
obligations; risks relating to our 8.25% notes (the "8.25% Notes")
maturing in February 2027 and our
Series B Senior Preferred Stock; risks related to the use of our
net operating loss ("NOLs") carryforwards and net unrealized
built-in losses ("NUBILs") to offset future taxable income and the
use of the Rights Agreement (as defined herein) to prevent an
"ownership change" as defined in Section 382 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") and our ability to
generate taxable income to utilize all or a portion of the NOLs and
NUBILs prior to the expiration thereof; risks related to the
limited trading markets in our securities; risks related to our
ability to maintain the listing of our Class A Common Stock on the
NYSE American LLC (the "NYSE American"); risks related to decisions
made by our Class B stockholders and our Series B Senior Preferred
stockholders regarding their investment in the Company based upon
factors that are unrelated to the Company's performance; risks
related to the Company's capital concentration; risks related to
natural and other disasters, including the continued impact of the
March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in
Japan on the nuclear industry and
on our business, results of operations and prospects; the impact
and potential extended duration of the current supply/demand
imbalance in the market for low-enriched uranium ("LEU"); our
dependence on others for deliveries of LEU including deliveries
from the Russian government-owned entity TENEX, Joint-Stock Company
("TENEX"), under a commercial supply agreement with TENEX and
deliveries under a long-term supply agreement with Orano Cycle
("Orano"); risks related to existing or new trade barriers and
contract terms that limit our ability to deliver LEU to customers;
risks related to actions, including government reviews, that may be
taken by the United States
government, the Russian government or other governments that could
affect our ability to perform under our contract obligations or the
ability of our sources of supply to perform under their contract
obligations to us, including the imposition of sanctions,
restrictions or other requirements, and risks relating to the
potential expiration of the 1992 Russian Suspension Agreement
("RSA") and/or a renewal of the RSA on terms not favorable to us or
legislation imposing new or increased limits on imports of Russian
LEU; risks related to our ability to sell the LEU we procure
pursuant to our purchase obligations under our supply agreements;
risks relating to our sales order book, including uncertainty
concerning customer actions under current contracts and in future
contracting due to market conditions and lack of current production
capability; risks related to financial difficulties experienced by
customers, including possible bankruptcies, insolvencies or any
other inability to pay for our products or services or delays in
making timely payment; pricing trends and demand in the uranium and
enrichment markets and their impact on our profitability; movement
and timing of customer orders; risks related to the value of our
intangible assets related to the sales order book and customer
relationships; risks associated with our reliance on third-party
suppliers to provide essential products and services to us; the
impact of government regulation including by the U.S. Department of
Energy ("DOE") and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission;
uncertainty regarding our ability to commercially deploy
competitive enrichment technology; risks and uncertainties
regarding funding for deployment of the American Centrifuge
technology and our ability to perform and absorb costs under our
agreement with DOE to demonstrate the capability to produce high
assay low enriched uranium ("HALEU") and our ability to obtain
and/or perform under other agreements; risks relating to whether or
when government or commercial demand for HALEU will materialize;
the potential for further demobilization or termination of our
American Centrifuge work; risks related to our ability to perform
and receive timely payment under agreements with DOE or other
government agencies, including risk and uncertainties related to
the ongoing funding of the government and potential audits; the
competitive bidding process associated with obtaining a federal
contract; risks related to our ability to perform fixed-price and
cost-share contracts, including the risk that costs could be higher
than expected; risks that we will be unable to obtain new business
opportunities or achieve market acceptance of our products and
services or that products or services provided by others will
render our products or services obsolete or noncompetitive; risks
that we will not be able to timely complete the work that we are
obligated to perform; failures or security breaches of our
information technology systems; risks related to pandemics and
other health crises, such as the global COVID-19 pandemic;
potential strategic transactions, which could be difficult to
implement, disrupt our business or change our business profile
significantly; the outcome of legal proceedings and other
contingencies (including lawsuits and government investigations or
audits); the competitive environment for our products and services;
changes in the nuclear energy industry; the impact of financial
market conditions on our business, liquidity, prospects, pension
assets and insurance facilities; the risks of revenue and operating
results fluctuating significantly from quarter to quarter, and in
some cases, year to year; and other risks and uncertainties
discussed in this and our other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including under Part 1. Item1A - "Risk
Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2019.
These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause
actual results to differ from those discussed in any
forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements
should be not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results.
Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various
disclosures made in this report and in our other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission that attempt to advise
interested parties of the risks and factors that may affect our
business. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking
statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after
the date of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, except as required
by law.
Contacts:
Media: Lindsey Geisler, (301)
564-3392, GeislerLR@centrusenergy.com
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SOURCE Centrus Energy Corp.