Centrus Energy and Oklo agreed on Monday to seek a joint venture focused on deconversion services for high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) and advancing fuel-cycle technologies in Ohio.
The nuclear fuel companies announced in a press release that the activities for this joint venture will take place at Centrus’ Piketon uranium enrichment facility site in Pike County, Ohio and co-located at Oklo’s planned 1,200-megawatt power campus.
Oklo’s planned campus comes as a part of an agreement from January with Meta to power its data centers.
The possible joint venture aims to enable an integrated pairing of uranium enrichment and deconversion to improve efficiency and costs through co-location, according to the release.
Uranium deconversion is the chemical extraction of the fluoride from depleted uranium hexafluoride, a byproduct of enrichment, into more stable uranium oxides. This occurs before it can be fabricated into fuel for nuclear reactors.
The two companies will also look to expand domestic advanced nuclear fuel capacity to serve Oklo’s needs, such as reactor fuel, and other domestic reactor deployments.
“A central hub for deconversion services co-located with HALEU enrichment could eliminate the need for each fuel fabrication facility to establish its own deconversion line, which would enhance competitiveness for the entire industry,” the companies said in the release.
Centrus and Oklo said they plan to explore opportunities for coordination of regulatory research and development activities. These activities include joint engagement with federal agencies to propose solutions that support co-location of deconversion and enrichment services, the companies said.
In addition to federal agencies, the two companies will also work with state and local initiatives to assist in siting the deconversion services in Pike County, Ohio.