American Centrifuge Plant Phase III HALEU operations for up to 9 years (to June 30, 2034) with possession limit increase (Amendment 29)

American Centrifuge Plant Phase III HALEU operations for up to 9 years (to June 30, 2034) with possession limit increase (Amendment 29): NRC fuel-cycle amendment review for American Centrifuge Operating, LLC, dba ACO (Centrus Energy Corp.) — issued, 4.5 months from docketing to decision. Sourced dates and schedule.

Background: NRC reactor licensing process, explained · The ADVANCE Act, explained: what changed and where the NRC stands

Current state

Review time is measured in average months from the date the NRC docketed the application to the decision. The NRC's own reported durations may measure to the final safety evaluation instead.

Notes

NRC target decision: 2025-06-30 (authorization expiry driving need date) (month only). nrc_target_date is not an NRC-published schedule: FR 2024-31376 says Phase 2 operations must shut down if Phase III "are not approved on or before June 30, 2025"; approval came 4 days before. Entirely post-ADVANCE Act. Two further ACO expansion amendments are under review (NRC page, Sept. 2026) but their dates were not captured. Licence/permit: SNM-2011.

Timeline

• 2024-12-19 — Application received: “The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff accepted and docketed an application for the amendment of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) License No. SNM-2011, submitted by American Centrifuge Operating, LLC, dba ACO dated December 19, 2024.” (source)
• 2025-02-10 — Accepted for review (docketed): “As documented in an administrative completeness review, dated February 10, 2025, the NRC found the application, acceptable for a technical review.” (source)
• 2025-06-26 — Issued: “The NRC approved the request and issued Amendment 29 on June 26, 2025” (source)

The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. See the NNN Data License Terms for reuse of the event history.

Also tracked

• Centrus American Centrifuge Plant (Piketon HALEU cascade and expansion) in the Uranium Enrichment & HALEU Tracker Expanding

NNN coverage

Related reviews

• Framatome Richland authorization of TRISO fuel fabrication in the Specialty Fuels Building and enrichment increase from 6.5 to up to 10.0 wt% U-235 (Amendment 21) Issued · 11.6 mo
• Framatome Richland site-wide enrichment limit increase from 5.0 to <6.5 wt% U-235 (Amendment 20) Issued · 10.7 mo
• National Enrichment Facility amendment applying the <10 wt% LEU+ limit to recycling and support systems (LAR-24-01, Amendment 110) Issued · 8.1 mo
• American Centrifuge Plant continuation of HALEU operations to June 30, 2025 (Amendment 27) Issued · —
• National Enrichment Facility amendment raising enrichment limit from 5.5 to <10 wt% U-235 (LEU+) for production systems (LAR-23-02, Amendment 105) Issued · 9.4 mo
• Framatome Richland extension of criticality validation methodology and minimum margin of subcriticality to enrichments up to 20 wt% U-235 (Amendment 19) Issued · —
• American Centrifuge Plant increase in HALEU possession limits to produce ~1,400 kg HALEU UF6 (Amendment 24) Issued · —
• American Centrifuge Plant extension of NRC-licensed HALEU operations to end of 2024 (Amendment 20) Issued · —

See all 75 reviews in the NRC Licensing Review Tracker →

Sources

1. https://www.nrc.gov/facilities-safety/fuel-cycle-facilities/new-fuel-cycle-facility-licensing/gas-centrifuge-enrichment-facility-licensing/centrus-energy-corpamerican-centrifuge-operating-llc-formerly-usec-inc-gas-centrifuge-enrichme
2. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/03/25/2025-04984/american-centrifuge-operating-llc-dba-aco-american-centrifuge-plant-license-amendment-application
3. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/06/24/2025-11522/american-centrifuge-operating-llc-american-centrifuge-plant-environmental-assessment-and-finding-of