Nuclear Fuel Makers Get $2.7 Billion From US as AI Boosts Power Demand
(Bloomberg) -- The US is awarding $900 million each to Centrus Energy Corp. and two other nuclear fuel makers as part of an effort to restart domestic production and wean the US off of enriched Russian uranium.
The funding for Maryland-based Centrus will go toward the development of next-generation reactor fuel, according to the Energy Department, which is announcing the awards later Monday. Funding will also go to Peter Thiel-backed advanced nuclear fuel enrichment startup General Matter and to a subsidiary of Orano SA, which is planning an enrichment facility in Tennessee.
Centrus shares rose as much as 9.2% in New York.
The announcement comes as President Donald Trump’s administration throws its weight behind expanding the US nuclear industry. Power demand is surging with the proliferation of data centers needed for artificial intelligence, driving electricity prices higher as politicians come under pressure to tame utility bills.
“Today’s awards show that this administration is committed to working hand-in-hand with industry and Congress to build a secure domestic nuclear fuel supply chain capable of producing the nuclear fuels needed to power the reactors of today and the advanced reactors of tomorrow,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.
The US was once a top supplier of enriched uranium and now just has one major commercial enrichment facility in New Mexico, owned by Urenco Ltd., a British, Dutch and German consortium. The funding announced Monday is in the form of task orders to purchase both low-enriched uranium used by traditional reactors and high-assay low-enriched uranium that will be needed to power a new breed of small modular reactors that can be built at factories and assembled on site.
The funding, which was awarded by Congress in 2024, was part of a plan by former President Joe Biden’s administration to wean the US off of cheap enriched Russian uranium and help restart a long-dormant domestic industry for enrichment and other specialized services needed to manufacture nuclear fuel. A ban on imports of Russian reactor fuel became law in 2024, though it allows the Energy Department to issue limited waivers until 2028.
The Energy Department also announced Monday it was awarding $28 million to Global Laser Enrichment, which is jointly owned by Silex Systems Ltd. and Cameco Corp., to continue advancing next-generation uranium enrichment technology.
(Updates with shares in third paragraph.)
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