The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $2.7 billion in task orders to three companies to expand domestic uranium enrichment capacity, an investment officials describe as the largest push to rebuild the nation's nuclear fuel supply chain in decades. General Matter and Centrus Energy subsidiary American Centrifuge Operating each received $900 million to develop domestic high assay low enriched uranium capacity, while Orano Federal Services received $900 million to expand low enriched uranium production. A separate $28 million award went to Global Laser Enrichment to continue developing next generation enrichment technology.

Orano said the funding is a key milestone for its five billion dollar Project IKE, a new enrichment facility planned for Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Chief Executive Nicolas Maes said the decision identifies Orano as a proven nuclear fuel supplier and that the company expects to begin production early next decade.

General Matter will use its award to build a commercial enrichment facility on reused federal land at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, the site of the country's last domestically owned commercial enrichment operation before it closed in 2013. The company said the contract will make Paducah the cornerstone of American enrichment once again.

The United States has depended on foreign enrichment services since Paducah's closure, with the Urenco USA plant in New Mexico serving as the only remaining domestic commercial capacity. The new task orders are intended to diversify fuel supply and reduce reliance on foreign sources as demand grows for both existing reactors and the next generation of advanced designs.

Source: World Nuclear News - https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/doe-awards-usd27-billion-to-strengthen-us-uranium-enrichment