Japanese Reactor Restarts Provide Hope for Struggling Centrus

Although Centrus lost $30.5 million during the first six months of 2015, including $15.1 million in the second quarter, the reopening of nuclear power plants in Japan in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster is providing hope for future profits. “To be sure, there’s still a long road ahead, but if nuclear generation continues to recover in Japan, it will be good news, not only for our industry, but more importantly, for the people of Japan, and for efforts to reduce carbon emissions,” Centrus CEO Dan Poneman said yesterday during a conference call with investors. After a March 2011 tsunami and radiological release at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor on Japan’s east coast prompted Tokyo to shut down nuclear plants across the country, the country recently started slowly bring the plants back online. Poneman said the Fukushima brought about a depression in the global nuclear fuel market, forcing Centrus to more intensively diversify its mix of suppliers.