The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has issued a Letter of Interest for up to $2.4bn in potential financing to support the export of US nuclear fuel to Japan supplied by California-based enrichment start-up General Matter. The financing would support the purchase of General Matter enriched uranium by Japanese utilities over a 10-year period as an alternative to Russian and Chinese enrichment.
The announcement was made at the inaugural Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum (IPEM) in Tokyo, Japan, co-hosted by the US National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry.
According to General Matter, this will strengthen the alliance between the US and Japan “while reducing both nations’ exposure to adversarial supply chains”. American energy dominance “means displacing Russia and other foreign producers who dominate global nuclear fuel markets”.
EXIM also issued a separate letter for $1.8bn to support similar fuel exports to South Korea, bringing the total potential financing for General Matter’s regional sales to $4.2bn.
“General Matter, EXIM, NEDC and the DOE are working to ensure America leads the world’s nuclear future,” said General Matter CEO Scott Nolan. “Every ally that sources American fuel is investing in our ability to rebuild the domestic supply chain, and we are grateful for their support.”
General Matter was founded in January 2024 with the mission to reshore American uranium enrichment and end reliance on foreign adversaries. The company, which emerged from stealth in April 2025, is currently developing a $1.5bn commercial enrichment facility at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. As well as Nolan, a former SpaceX engineer (2003–2007), company officials include Lee Robinson (COO), a former intelligence professional who led energy investments for the Department of Defense’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and veterans from SpaceX, Tesla, Anduril, and US national laboratories. After raising $50m in April 2025 in a Series A financing round led by Founders Fund, billionaire investor Peter Thiel joined the board.
The company has benefitted from continuous federal support. In January 2026, the company was awarded a $900m Department of Energy (DOE) contract to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU). The funding is not a lump sum but will be released over a 10-year period as the company hits specific project achievements. This federal commitment is intended to “derisk” the project, making it easier for General Matter to secure the remaining $1.5bn in private capital needed for the Paducah facility.
In August 2025, General Matter signed a lease with the DOE Office of Environmental Management for a 100-acre parcel at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. The agreement includes access to at least 7,600 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride tails located on-site, which the company will re-enrich.
General Matter’s facility at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky is designed to be a high-scale uranium enrichment hub, although the company has kept its specific proprietary technology details confidential. The plant is being developed to produce both Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) for the current reactor fleet and HALEU (enriched between 5% and 19.75%) required for next-generation advanced reactors. While General Matter has not publicly detailed its specific enrichment method, it describes it as a “novel, scalable, and cost-competitive” technology that differentiates it from traditional centrifuge or gaseous diffusion methods.
Construction is slated to begin in 2026, with the goal of bringing the facility online by the end of the decade (around 2030) and reaching full commercial operations as late as 2034. The company emphasizes that its technology is modular, suggesting a design that can be expanded incrementally to meet demand, rather than requiring the massive, singular infrastructure of traditional enrichment
General Matter is also developing its dedicated manufacturing hub in Utah through its local subsidiary, Utah Energy. Unlike the Kentucky site, which is focused on the chemical process of enrichment, the Utah facility is primarily designed to build the specialised machinery required for that process. The facility is planned for a 400-acre site at Camp Williams, a Utah National Guard training facility near Bluffdale. The project is a collaboration between General Matter, the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA), and the Utah National Guard. MIDA has entered a 120-year lease with the state for the land, intending to sub-lease it to General Matter.
While current plans focus on manufacturing, state leaders and the company have discussed the potential for active uranium enrichment at the site in the future, pending additional regulatory approvals. The project supports Utah Governor Spencer Cox’s “Operation Gigawatt” plan, which aims to double the state’s energy production over the next decade. MIDA officials indicated that General Matter is looking to invest “well over a billion dollars” into its Utah operations. The project is seeking a $5m state energy loan to assist with the initial development of the site.
