General Matter Secures $900M DOE Contract to Boost U.S. Uranium Supply

Los Angeles-based nuclear energy startup General Matter has secured a $900-million Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The agreement will support building and operating high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) enrichment capacity for advanced U.S. commercial and government nuclear fuel needs.

Under the ten-year, milestone-based contract, General Matter will build domestic HALEU enrichment capacity for advanced reactors in the U.S., thereby reducing reliance on foreign providers, strengthening the U.S. nuclear industrial base and lowering energy costs for utilities and consumers.

Founded in 2024 by Scott Nolan, a former SpaceX engineer and partner at Founders Fund, and Lee Robinson, a former Department of Defense energy specialist, General Matter is focusing on enriching uranium in America to reshore nuclear fuel production and power AI, manufacturing and other critical industries. The nuclear startup is backed by Founders Fund, the first institutional investor in SpaceX, Palantir and Anduril.

General Matter will use its commercial enrichment facility at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Paducah, Kentucky, to carry out the contract. Equipment for Paducah operations will be manufactured at General Matter’s facilities in California and at a larger project outside the state.

“This investment in American technology and operations for scalable, clean nuclear power is a defining moment for American energy security and dominance,” said Scott Nolan, chief executive of General Matter, in a statement.

The DOE’s contract with General Matter is part of a broader $2.7 billion in orders to strengthen domestic uranium enrichment over the next ten years.

Information for this article was sourced from General Matter.