The FMEF is a 190,000-square-foot facility completed in 1984 and originally intended to support the liquid fast breeder reactor program. The facility was never used in any nuclear capacity and has remained in a dormant surveillance and maintenance status since 1993.
Under the new lease, General Matter will undertake the evaluations necessary to assess returning the FMEF to service, including site characterization, potential facility upgrades, and engagement with community leaders and stakeholders, the DOE said.
Official words: “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, we are leveraging redevelopment projects to accelerate next-generation nuclear technology, lower energy costs, and power the global AI race,” said EM Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh. “FMEF can be transformed into an asset to unleash American energy dominance and drive innovation, while building prosperity and vitality for the people of central Washington.”
Scott Nolan, General Matter's chief executive officer, added, “Rebuilding America’s nuclear fuel capabilities is critical to strengthening our nuclear industrial base, reducing our reliance on foreign providers, and lowering energy costs for utilities and consumers. We thank our partners in Hanford and the Department of Energy for supporting us in the development of a stronger, more secure nuclear fuel supply chain built here in the United States.”
ICYMI: Early last month, the DOE awarded General Matter and two other enrichment services companies task orders worth $900 million each. Under its task order, General Matter will develop domestic HALEU enrichment capacity. (The two other awards went to Centrus Energy subsidiary American Centrifuge Operating, also for HALEU enrichment capacity, and to Orano Federal Services, for domestic LEU enrichment capacity.)
While the DOE did not explicitly state what projects the new funding would support, General Matter said at the time that its $900 million will accelerate its project at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. In August 2025, EM signed a lease with the company for the reuse of a 100-acre parcel of federal land at the site for a new private-sector domestic uranium enrichment facility. That lease also provided General Matter with a minimum of 7,600 cylinders of existing depleted uranium hexafluoride to supply fuel for future reenrichment operations.
At the time, the company expected to begin construction on the new facility in 2026 and enter operation by 2034.
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