The Thermal Centrifuge is the third machine in IndustrialCraft 2's ore processing chain: the Macerator crushes raw ore, the Ore Washing Plant purifies the crushed ore, and the Thermal Centrifuge separates each purified crushed ore into a primary dust plus a bonus tiny pile of a second dust. The Thermal Centrifuge accepts up to 128 EU/t from a medium-voltage network, draws 48 EU/t while running, and finishes one item every 25 seconds for a total of 24000 EU per operation — the internal buffer of 48000 EU covers two complete operations. Before the first output appears, the Thermal Centrifuge must heat up to the working temperature required by the loaded recipe; the heat-up phase consumes extra energy, and all stored heat is lost as soon as the input slots run dry.

Two jobs push the Thermal Centrifuge into the nuclear tier of IndustrialCraft 2. Uranium enrichment: crushed uranium ore comes out as Uranium 238 plus a tiny pile of Uranium 235, the two isotopes Nuclear Reactor fuel is built from, and purified crushed uranium ore doubles the Uranium 235 yield. Depleted fuel rod recycling: spent uranium and MOX fuel rods — single, dual and quad — return as Plutonium, Uranium 238 and Iron Dust instead of dead waste. Away from the reactor, the Thermal Centrifuge grinds Cobblestone into Stone Dust, Slag into Coal Dust with a tiny pile of Gold Dust, Clay Dust into Silicon Dioxide, and Nether Quartz into tiny piles of Lithium Dust. Craft the Thermal Centrifuge from an Advanced Machine, Coils, an Electric Motor, a Mining Laser and iron ingots, then keep the input queue full — every cold start pays the heat-up cost again.