Ohio leaders want federal energy officials to invest in a uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, a move that could help the country achieve “domestic energy dominance.”
Maryland-based Centrus Energy operates the American Centrifuge Plant about 70 miles south of Columbus, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
U.S. Sens. Jon Husted and Bernie Moreno, Gov. Mike DeWine, and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel, all Republicans, penned a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright urging federal investment in the plan. The letter said that foreign dominance of the domestic uranium enrichment market “poses immediate and future national security concerns.”
The letter provided to Ohio.news by the governor's office continued: “As the Department begins to allocate funds for domestic uranium enrichment development, we urge you to award a majority share of those funds to Centrus Energy’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. This plant is the only U.S.-owned, U.S.-technology enrichment plant currently in production, and it is in America’s economic and national security interests to act with urgency on this request."
They added: “The United States pioneered and once led the world in nuclear technology,” the letter continued. “Now four suppliers control the enrichment market, each of which is foreign-owned and/or backed by foreign governments: Russia, China, Orano (France), and Urenco (Germany, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom). Russia is the dominant supplier of enriched uranium services, with 44% of the global enrichment capacity. Foreign dominance of the U.S. uranium enrichment market poses immediate and future national security concerns.”
The lawmakers noted that Congress appropriated $3.4 billion in 2023 for the Department of Energy to develop domestic uranium enrichment.
“It is critical that the Department of Energy prioritize American-owned and operated projects, such as Centrus Energy’s Piketon plant, when spending these dollars,” they said in the letter.
“Centrus Energy’s work in Ohio improves U.S. national security and advances American energy dominance,” the lawmakers added. “We urge you to boost the development of nuclear energy in the United States by funding American enrichment technology and deploying it in Ohio at a large scale.”
In November, Centrus announced that it would resume centrifuge manufacturing activities and expand its manufacturing capacity at its Oak Ridge, Tennessee, facility. The company also said it would invest another roughly $60 million over 18 months for the initiative, laying the groundwork to support a “potential large-scale expansion of uranium enrichment” at the Piketon facility.
However, in a release, the company said, “Such a large-scale expansion would require a multi-billion dollar public and private investment.”
The “investment will jump-start what we hope will be a multi-billion dollar public and private commitment to reestablishing America’s uranium enrichment capacity at scale while reducing our dependence on foreign nations -- deploying American technology, built by American workers, supported by an American supply chain,” Centrus President and CEO Amir Vexler said in a release at the time.
“We have always said that restoring U.S. enrichment capacity at scale requires a public-private partnership, including a robust federal investment alongside customer offtake commitments and private capital,” Vexler added. “This additional investment by Centrus reflects our continued willingness to step up to the plate in such a partnership.”
The push for federal dollars in the Buckeye State follows a move by Ohio lawmakers to pass measures that proponents say will improve energy reliability and affordability across Ohio by removing anti-competitive regulations in the energy sector. House Bill 15 and Senate Bill 2 would increase Ohio’s power generation and improve ratepayers’ affordability and the state’s electrical grid reliability.
Aside from national security concerns, Ohio’s energy production is a hot-button issue due to several major economic developments, including Anduril, Honda and Intel projects.
