The U.S. Department of Energy awarded General Matter a $900 million contract to build and operate high-assay low-enriched uranium enrichment capacity, with work centered at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Kentucky. The ten-year, milestone-based agreement is structured as an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract supporting fuel for advanced commercial and government reactors.
High-assay low-enriched uranium, known as HALEU, is the fuel many advanced reactor designs require, and the United States currently lacks commercial-scale domestic production. Federal officials have framed the gap as an energy and national security concern, noting that Russia and China are the main commercial suppliers of the material. The contract is part of a broader $2.7 billion department initiative to rebuild the domestic uranium enrichment supply chain.
General Matter leased part of the Paducah facility from the department in 2025 and plans to begin construction in 2026, with operations projected to start between the late 2020s and as late as 2034. The award reflects a federal strategy to pair reactor development with secure domestic fuel supply. Building enrichment capacity at the long-running Paducah site also reuses existing nuclear infrastructure and a workforce familiar with the fuel cycle, supporting the next generation of U.S. nuclear plants.
Source: WKMS - https://www.wkms.org/energy/2026-01-07/general-matter-scores-900m-award-from-doe-to-support-haleu-enrichment-in-paducah