Centrus Energy (NYSE: LEU)
A Critical Fuel Supplier Sitting at the Center of the Nuclear Revival
As nuclear energy moves from policy ambition to real-world deployment, one part of the value chain is becoming impossible to ignore: fuel. Reactors do not run on promises or press releases. They run on enriched uranium, and in the U.S., the list of companies capable of supplying next-generation nuclear fuel is extremely short.
Centrus Energy stands out because it already operates one of the only NRC-licensed facilities in the United States capable of producing high-assay, low-enriched uranium, better known as HALEU. This fuel is a key requirement for many advanced reactor designs expected to come online later this decade, particularly smaller, more flexible reactors intended for industrial sites, data centers, and remote locations.
This is not a startup story. Centrus traces its roots back to the U.S. government’s original uranium enrichment programs in the 1940s, giving it decades of technical and regulatory experience in a field with extraordinarily high barriers to entry. That history matters in an industry where licensing, safety, and reliability determine who can actually participate.
More recently, the company reached a major milestone. In November 2023, Centrus became the first U.S. company in 70 years to produce HALEU. In June 2025, it delivered 900 kilograms of HALEU under a Department of Energy contract. That contract has since been extended through June 2026 and carries a value of $110 million. Those deliveries are not theoretical demand. They are proof that the fuel supply chain is starting to form.
If the U.S. follows through on its stated plans to expand advanced nuclear capacity, the bottleneck may not be reactor designs or political will, but fuel availability. Centrus is already inside that bottleneck. With limited domestic competition and growing government support, its position in the emerging HALEU supply chain looks strategically important.
Shares of Centrus Energy trade around $230, reflecting both the opportunity and the volatility that comes with being early in a tightly regulated, capital-intensive market. For investors looking at nuclear energy beyond utilities and plant operators, Centrus offers direct exposure to a critical piece of the infrastructure that must exist for the broader nuclear buildout to succeed.
