# General Matter

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/general-matter
California startup founded in 2024 and incubated at Founders Fund, building a private US uranium enrichment plant at the former Paducah gaseous diffusion site in Kentucky for LEU, LEU+ and HALEU. It has not disclosed its enrichment method.

## In brief

- One of two HALEU enrichers with a $900M DOE task order (Jan 2026); the other is Centrus.
- Building a $1.5 billion plant on 100 leased acres at Paducah, which enriched uranium from 1952 to 2013.
- Filed its NRC licence application in Sept 2026; aims for commercial-scale enrichment by the end of the decade.

## Facts

- Founded: 2024
- Headquarters: US
- Status: private
- Raised: $50M
- Frontiers: [Energy](https://technooptimist.io/energy.md) (Nuclear fuel)

## Programs

- [Paducah enrichment plant](https://technooptimist.io/energy/paducah-enrichment-plant.md) (Energy): Proto; next: Licence amendment for HALEU (2027). NRC application filed Sept 2026; site prep under way; $900M DOE HALEU task order.

## Technical approach

- **Enrichment only: One step of the fuel chain**: Takes uranium hexafluoride from converters and enriches it; mining, conversion and fuel fabrication are left to others.
- **Undisclosed method: Technology kept private**: Describes its process as novel and scalable but has not published how it works.
- **Old tails, new fuel: Re-enrich Paducah's leftovers**: The lease comes with at least 7,600 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride left from decades of enrichment, to be enriched again.

## Open problems

- **Proving an unpublished process** (open): No independent data on cost, output or reliability of its method are public yet.
- **Capital-heavy supply chain** (active research): Enrichment plants need specialised machines, materials and secure facilities built from scratch in the US.

## Upcoming

- **2027**: HALEU licence amendment filed with the NRC (Paducah enrichment plant)
- **1 Jan 2028**: US waivers for Russian enriched uranium end (Paducah enrichment plant)

## Latest updates

- **28 Sep 2026**: General Matter files its NRC licence application for the Paducah enrichment plant. General Matter submitted a 1,000-plus page application to the NRC for its Paducah plant, covering safety analysis, environment, fire hazards, decommissioning funding, security and emergency plans. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/general-matter-files-its-nrc-licence-application-for-the-paducah-428c88cb.md) · [original source](https://world-nuclear-news.org/articles/general-matter-submits-enrichment-plant-licence-application))
- **5 Jan 2026**: DOE awards General Matter a $900 million task order for HALEU enrichment. The Department of Energy issued $900 million task orders to General Matter and to Centrus for domestic HALEU enrichment, and one to Orano for LEU, about $2.7 billion in all. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/doe-awards-general-matter-a-900-million-task-order-for-haleu-enrichment-17ab7144.md) · [original source](https://www.ans.org/news/2026-01-06/article-7652/doe-awards-27b-for-haleu-and-leu-enrichment/))
- **6 Aug 2025**: General Matter signs a DOE lease to build a $1.5 billion enrichment plant at Paducah, Kentucky. General Matter leased 100 acres at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant from the Department of Energy, with at least 7,600 cylinders of uranium hexafluoride to re-enrich. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/general-matter-signs-a-doe-lease-to-build-a-1-5-billion-enrichment-8376cad9.md) · [original source](https://world-nuclear-news.org/articles/general-matter-plans-new-enrichment-plant-in-paducah))

## Funding

| Date | Round | Amount | Post-money | Leads |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Apr 2025 | Series A | $50M |   | Founders Fund |

## Partners, customers and investors

- US Department of Energy (customer): $900M HALEU task order (Jan 2026); 100-acre Paducah lease (Aug 2025).
- Founders Fund (investor): Incubated the company and led its 2025 Series A.

## People

- Scott Nolan, Co-founder and CEO
- Drew DeWalt, Co-founder

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