General Matter signs DOE lease to build first privately developed uranium enrichment facility in the US
Aug 6, 2025
Key Points
- General Matter signs lease with the U.S. Department of Energy to build the nation's first privately developed uranium enrichment facility at Kentucky's former Paducah plant, targeting production by decade's end.
- Founder Scott Nolan positions uranium enrichment as foundational to American dominance in nuclear energy and AI, addressing a national security gap as U.S. currently relies on foreign enrichment capacity.
- Nolan, who spent over a decade at Founders Fund working with Peter Thiel, assembled an exceptionally strong team to fill what hosts describe as an obviously necessary gap in American industrial capacity.
Summary
General Matter, founded by Scott Nolan, signed a lease with the U.S. Department of Energy to build the nation's first privately developed uranium enrichment facility at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, where the U.S. enrichment industry began 75 years ago.
Nolan frames the move as restoring American leadership in uranium enrichment, positioning it as foundational to downstream dominance in nuclear energy, AI, and manufacturing. The company targets uranium enrichment by the end of the decade, ahead of its original timeline after winning the government contract earlier than expected.
Nolan spent over a decade at Founders Fund before starting General Matter, working closely with Peter Thiel on the "Zero to One" lectures at Stanford. He waited for the right opportunity before founding and assembled an exceptionally strong team. The company fills an apparent gap in American industrial capacity that had generated little prior pitch activity.
Uranium enrichment capacity is now a national security and energy independence priority. AI's electricity demands have sharpened focus on nuclear baseload power, and the U.S. currently relies on foreign enrichment. General Matter's private development of this capability, backed by DOE partnership, positions the company as a critical infrastructure player in the energy-to-AI supply chain.