The US Department of Energy awarded $2.7 billion in January 2026 to expand domestic uranium enrichment, a move aimed at strengthening the long-term resilience of the nuclear fuel supply chain. The funding targets production of low-enriched uranium and high-assay low-enriched uranium, the latter required by many advanced reactor designs.
The bulk of the funding went to three companies through $900 million contracts to supply enrichment services over the next decade. Centrus Energy will use its American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, General Matter is accelerating a project at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, and Orano Federal Services is developing Project Ike, a $5 billion enrichment facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The awards concentrate federal investment in domestic fuel production capacity.
The department directed additional funding toward technology and logistics. It awarded $28 million to Global Laser Enrichment to advance next-generation enrichment technology and $11 million for HALEU transportation packages to develop economical methods for moving the fuel. A separate $80 million was made available to support new HALEU technologies.
The investment responds to a longstanding gap in domestic fuel production, which has left US utilities dependent on imports and existing stockpiles. By funding multiple producers across several states, the program seeks to rebuild an enrichment industry capable of supplying both the existing reactor fleet and the advanced reactors moving toward construction. The awards represent one of the largest federal commitments to nuclear fuel security in recent years.
Source: US Department of Energy - https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-department-energy-awards-27-billion-restore-american-uranium-enrichment