Centrus HALEU Contingent Sales Hit $5.4B; DOE Budget Proposal Omits Cascade Funds

Centrus Energy said on Nov. 4 that its contingent sales commitments for low-enriched uranium (LEU) and high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) reached about $5.4 billion at Sept. 30, up from about $3.0 billion at June 30.

Of that total, $5.1 billion is under definitive agreements, against $2.4 billion three months earlier, according to the third-quarter results Centrus filed with the SEC. Centrus says the commitments are in support of potential construction of LEU and HALEU capacity at Piketon, Ohio, and tend to relate to achievement of operational milestones. Total backlog across both segments was $7.0 billion, up from $4.5 billion, and runs to 2040; Centrus counts the contingent commitments in that total, so the $5.4 billion is not on top of it. As Voltgrid reported, the first centrifuge for that expansion left Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on Oct. 29, and new cascades remain a 2029 target, ANS Nuclear Newswire reported.

For Amazon's nuclear program, the HALEU part is what counts. X-energy, whose Xe-100 projects include one with Amazon, signed a definitive agreement with Centrus on Aug. 6 for LEU and HALEU enrichment at Piketon, feeding its TRISO-X fuel plant in Oak Ridge. X-energy said that, at full execution, the phased deal would cover a portion of its customers' initial fuel, at about 15.5% U-235, and disclosed no quantities. Its first project, with Dow, draws on DOE's HALEU Availability Program instead. X-energy did not say whether the Centrus supply comes from the existing cascade or from capacity still to be built, or which projects it covers. Centrus did not name the customers behind the $5.4 billion.

DOE Steps Back From the Existing HALEU Cascade

Centrus repeated that DOE does not currently intend to exercise further options under the 2022 HALEU Operation Contract, and that DOE's proposed fiscal 2027 budget has no further money to run the HALEU cascade under it. Centrus puts the cascade work under that contract at about $0.8 billion, which it counts in a Technical Solutions backlog of about $0.8 billion that includes unfunded amounts and unexercised options. Centrus carried the same language in its second-quarter results on Aug. 5, and the budget gap was already in its first-quarter 10-Q in May. The effect shows in revenue: Technical Solutions revenue fell to $23.7 million from $30.1 million, mainly on a $10.2 million drop from that contract.

Centrus said it is enriching HALEU for the commercial market from its existing 16-centrifuge cascade. That was the plan when its subsidiary signed a separate $900 million base task order with DOE on June 30, according to Centrus's 8-K, to build new capacity, POWER Magazine reported; under the demonstration contract the cascade made 900 kilograms of HALEU, as uranium hexafluoride, a year. The release does not discuss the task order.

What Contingent Enrichment Commitments Mean

Contingent commitments are customer sales contracts tied to capacity that does not exist yet. Centrus says its $5.4 billion in contingent LEU and HALEU commitments are in support of potential construction at Piketon and tend to relate to operational milestones, even though $5.1 billion is under definitive agreements.

For a reactor developer such as X-energy, that means HALEU supply from Piketon depends in part on new cascades that Centrus targets for 2029 and on a DOE lease that expires Oct. 1, 2027 unless extended.

Centrus Net Income, Warrant Gain and Piketon Lease Risk

Net income was $31.6 million, against $3.9 million a year earlier, but a $46.4 million non-cash gain on the fair value of warrant liabilities drove it. On its adjusted, non-GAAP basis, Centrus lost $9.4 million, and gross loss widened to $10.6 million. Revenue fell 26% to $55.5 million, mostly on lower uranium sales. Revenue from separative work units (SWU), the measure of enrichment sold, rose $3.4 million on 19% more volume and a 10% higher average price.

The release also lists the Piketon lease as a risk. Centrus said in a Nov. 2 shelf registration that the DOE lease expires on Oct. 1, 2027 unless extended, and that DOE has said it will work to extend it before Dec. 31, 2026 but is under no obligation. Without an extension, Centrus says it may have to delay, scale back or abandon the expansion and take a significant non-cash charge.

What Is Not Confirmed Yet

The 10-Q with full detail has not been filed. Centrus has not said how much HALEU the 16-machine cascade will sell commercially, or who buys it. It expects 2026 revenue of $450 million to $500 million and capital deployment of $350 million to $500 million. The earnings call on Nov. 5 at 8:30 a.m. ET is the next check, and DOE's Dec. 31 aim for the lease extension is the next date on which the 2029 cascades depend.