The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has accepted General Matter's license application for its planned US$1.5 billion uranium enrichment facility on the Department of Energy site in McCracken County, Kentucky, the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The NRC announced the acceptance on social media on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026.
Half the normal time
CEO Scott Nolan said the NRC accepted the application in roughly half the normal time. General Matter made its initial submission in September 2026.
An NRC license will enable General Matter to produce low-enriched uranium for nuclear power plants. The company also plans to submit an amendment to its license next year to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium, described as a more concentrated grade of nuclear fuel.
Construction schedule
Nolan outlined the project schedule: 2026 is the year of site preparation, 2027 construction, 2028 installation and commissioning, and 2029 the site will be fully operational.
General Matter calls the project the first privately funded enrichment operation in the United States. It signed a lease for a 100-acre parcel on the DOE site in August 2025 and held a groundbreaking in October 2025. The former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant enriched uranium at commercial scale until it went offline in 2013.
General Matter plans to submit an amendment to its license next year to produce HALEU, a more concentrated grade of nuclear fuel.
The acceptance marks a regulatory milestone for a project that is also backed by federal money. General Matter received a US$900 million task order from DOE in January 2026 to create domestic HALEU production capacity at its Paducah project. DOE Assistant Secretary Tim Walsh said at the Paducah event that “we can't have nuclear power if we don't have enriched uranium.”
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