Centrus Energy just locked in one of the more consequential fuel supply agreements in the nascent advanced nuclear sector. The company signed a Letter of Intent with Oklo to provide domestically sourced high-assay low-enriched uranium, known as HALEU, for up to five of Oklo’s Aurora microreactors over multiple years.
The market noticed. Centrus shares jumped approximately 9.6% in pre-market trading, while Oklo ticked up around 4%.
What HALEU is and why it matters
Think of HALEU as premium-grade fuel for next-generation nuclear reactors. Traditional nuclear plants run on uranium enriched to about 3-5%. HALEU is enriched to between 5% and 20%, which lets advanced reactor designs run more efficiently in smaller packages.
Centrus operates the only NRC-licensed HALEU production facility in the entire United States, located at its Piketon, Ohio site. That makes it, for now, the sole American option for any company trying to fuel advanced reactors without importing enriched uranium from abroad.
