EXHIBIT 5.1

September 11, 2026

Centrus Energy Corp. 

6901 Rockledge Drive, Suite 800 

Bethesda, MD 20817

Re: Offering of the Shares of Common Stock, Common Warrants and Pre-Funded Warrants of Centrus Energy Corp.

We have acted as special counsel to Centrus Energy Corp., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the offer and sale by the Company under the prospectus supplement, dated September 9, 2026, of an aggregate of 500,000 shares (the “Shares”) of the Company’s Class A common stock, par value $0.10 per share (the “Common Stock”), pre-funded warrants to purchase 2,005,513 shares of Common Stock (the “Pre-Funded Warrants”) and common warrants to purchase 6,992,382 shares of Common Stock (the “Common Warrants” and, together with the Pre-Funded Warrants, the “Warrants”), pursuant to the underwriting agreement, dated September 11, 2026 (the “Underwriting Agreement”), between the Company and the underwriters named therein. The shares of Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants are referred to herein as the “Warrant Shares” (together with the Shares and the Warrants, the “Securities”). The Securities are being offered and sold pursuant to an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (File No. 333-291305) (the “Registration Statement”), initially filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), on November 6, 2025. The Registration Statement automatically became effective upon filing.

In our capacity as such counsel, we have examined originals or copies of those corporate and other records and documents we considered appropriate, including, among other things, the following:

Austin • Century City • Dallas • Houston • Los Angeles • Newport Beach • New York • San Francisco • Silicon Valley • Washington, DC 

Beijing • Brussels • Hong Kong • London • Seoul • Shanghai • Singapore

We have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals and the conformity with originals of all documents submitted to us as copies.

Based on this examination, our reliance upon the assumptions in this letter and our consideration of those questions of law we considered relevant, and subject to the limitations and qualifications in this letter, we are of the opinion that:

Our opinion in paragraph 3 assumes that, at all times prior to the issuance of the Warrant Shares, the Company will maintain a sufficient number of duly authorized and unissued shares of Common Stock available for the issuance of the Warrant Shares.

The law covered by this letter is limited to the present federal law of the United States, the present law of the State of New York and the present General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware that we have, in the exercise of customary professional diligence, recognized as applicable to the Company or to transactions of the type contemplated by the Underwriting Agreement. We express no opinion as to the laws of any other jurisdiction and no opinion regarding the statutes, administrative decisions, rules, regulations or requirements of any county, municipality, subdivision or local authority of any jurisdiction.

This letter is being furnished in accordance with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Securities Act, and no opinion is expressed herein as to any matter pertaining to the contents of the Registration Statement, the prospectus included in the Registration Statement or any prospectus supplement, other than as expressly stated herein with respect to the Securities. This letter is expressly limited to the matters set forth above, and we render no opinion, whether by implication or otherwise, as to any other matters. This letter speaks only as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation to update or supplement this letter to reflect any facts or circumstances that arise after the date hereof and come to our attention or any future changes in laws.

We hereby consent to the filing of this letter as Exhibit 5.1 to a Current Report on Form 8-K and to the incorporation by reference of this letter into the Registration Statement, and to the reference to this firm under the heading “Legal Matters” in the Registration Statement and related prospectus. In giving such consent, we do not hereby admit that we are within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act or the rules or regulations of the SEC thereunder.