Centrus, a nuclear energy company, announced last week that it will expand its operations in Tennessee.
The nuclear company will be transitioning its Oak Ridge facility to a high-rate manufacturing plant, according to a state government press release.
Centrus said it will invest more than $560 million and create almost 430 jobs.
The investment will grow Tennessee’s workforce and production of thousands of advanced centrifuges, the press release said. Centrifuges are devices that help enrich uranium.
Centrus’ Oak Ridge manufacturing center is America’s only uranium enrichment centrifuge manufacturing facility.
The company’s subsidiary, American Centrifuge Operating (ACO), received $900 million from the federal government to help develop domestic uranium enrichment, which produces fuel for nuclear reactors.
The centrifuges produced in Tennessee will support the ACO’s uranium enrichment plant in Ohio, which is expected to be online in 2029.
Amir Vexler, CEO of Centrus, said his company is “proud to be leading the effort to restore America’s ability to enrich uranium at scale – using American technology, built by American workers right here in Tennessee.”
“These advanced centrifuges are essential to meeting America’s energy security and national security requirements,” he noted.
Reacting to the news, Gov. Bill Lee said Tennessee is being recognized by companies as America’s “epicenter for new nuclear.”
Centrus’ new jobs will “create greater opportunity for Tennesseans and advance our state’s position as a leader in energy independence,” Lee stated.
Warren Gooch, mayor of Oak Ridge, said the city is “proud to support the growth of Centrus Energy in [its] community.”
“The expansion of their operations and the integration of Centrus’s advanced technology signal a return to American leadership in nuclear energy, an area where Oak Ridge has long played a critical role,” he explained.
Earlier in January, another nuclear company based in Oak Ridge, LIS Technologies, said it would invest $1.4 billion in Tennessee. The company anticipates the investment will create 203 new jobs.
LIS Technologies will build a K-25 uranium enrichment site, the first American-origin commercial laser uranium enrichment plant in the world.
Also, this month, the federal government gave Orano Federal Services $900 million to support the development of low-enriched uranium. The company is working on building a 750,000-square-foot complex in Oak Ridge.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at zschmidt1717@gmail.com.
