Four uranium enrichment companies detail U.S. capacity expansion plans at ANS Global 2026 conference

At the American Nuclear Society’s Global 2026 conference this week, four uranium enrichment companies laid out concrete plans to rebuild a domestic industry that’s largely disappeared over the past four decades. Executives from Urenco USA, Centrus Energy, General Matter, and Global Laser Enrichment each described active projects during a plenary session called “Fueling the Future of Nuclear”—a rare moment where competing firms signaled expansion all at once.

Four companies present enrichment expansion plans at Global 2026

The ANS Fuel Cycle & Waste Management Division organized Global 2026 around the theme “Deploying Sustainable Nuclear Fuel Cycles.” The plenary session brought together reps from all four companies, each describing active or imminent contributions to the front end of the nuclear fuel cycle.

What made the session stand out wasn’t just who showed up—it was what they announced. Instead of broad aspirations, panelists outlined specific projects, timelines, and deals already in motion. Four competing enrichment ventures on one stage, at the same moment. That doesn’t happen by accident, and it signals how fast the domestic landscape is shifting.

GLE’s laser-based process would re-enrich depleted uranium hexafluoride tails stored at the Paducah site—material that still contains recoverable uranium-235.

U.S. enrichment capacity declined sharply while Russian share grew

The scale of the problem these companies are trying to solve is hard to overstate. In 1985, the U.S. held a 64 percent share of global uranium enrichment. By 2024, that share had fallen to less than 1 percent, according to Centrus Energy’s vice president for corporate communications, Dan Leistikow.

Over that same stretch, Russia’s share of global enrichment capacity grew to 43 percent. “This entire supply chain around the world—which the United States used to dominate—is now almost completely owned by foreign, state-owned enterprises,” Leistikow said. He described uranium enrichment as the segment where the U.S. has fallen most dramatically behind.

The urgency isn’t only geopolitical. The U.S. and Europe are actively working to cut dependence on Russian enriched uranium, while demand is rising independently—advanced reactor deployment and AI-driven electricity consumption are both expected to tighten fuel supply further. “We collectively have a big hole to fill,” Leistikow said.

Urenco, Centrus, General Matter, and GLE each announce specific projects

Each company on the panel pointed to concrete milestones. Urenco USA broke ground this week in Eunice, New Mexico, with DOE Secretary Chris Wright in attendance. The expansion adds 2.1 million SWU of gas centrifuge capacity, bringing the facility’s total to more than 7 million SWU by 2036. The site’s NRC license permits up to 10 million SWU, leaving room to keep going.

Centrus Energy announced two major agreements: a contract with X-energy to support expanding its domestic commercial enrichment program at the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, and a separate deal with DOE valued at $900 million to expand HALEU production capacity at the same facility.

General Matter signed a lease with DOE’s Office of Environmental Management for a 100-acre parcel at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, where the California-based startup plans to build a private-sector enrichment facility. Global Laser Enrichment, meanwhile, submitted its NRC license application in July 2025 for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility, with major construction expected to begin in 2027 and completion targeted for 2030.

Industry faces workforce and demand-uncertainty challenges alongside growth

Growth doesn’t come without friction. Urenco’s Mary Neumayr, head of government affairs, flagged workforce recruitment and retention as a persistent challenge—the nuclear industry competes for a limited pool of specialized talent, according to the American Nuclear Society, a problem especially acute given how fast expansion is planned.

Neumayr also pointed to uncertainty on the demand side. “We are looking at the deployment of new reactors, but it’s still not as well known what those demands will be for advanced fuels,” she said. Different advanced reactor designs require different fuel specs, and that variability makes long-term enrichment planning genuinely difficult.

General Matter’s Drew DeWalt offered a broader framing of what’s at stake: fuel is the bottleneck to nuclear, nuclear is the bottleneck to electricity, electricity is the bottleneck to AI. Despite the challenges, panelists were genuinely optimistic. DeWalt pointed to increased private-sector participation and fresh investment as signs the industry is moving in the right direction. “There are a lot of people working on this problem,” he said.

Paducah site positioned as a potential hub for U.S. enrichment revival

One detail from the conference stood out: both General Matter and Global Laser Enrichment are setting up operations at or near the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which enriched uranium from 1952 to 2013 before becoming the last government-owned enrichment facility to shut down in the U.S.

GLE’s laser-based process would re-enrich depleted uranium hexafluoride tails stored at the Paducah site—material that still contains recoverable uranium-235. “I think we have the technology that can unlock the valuable 235 that’s still in those tails,” said GLE’s Nima Ashkeboussi. “We can do it in an economic fashion.”

The co-location of two enrichment ventures at the same site is no coincidence. “Paducah is setting itself up for reestablishing its role as the U.S. enrichment hub with General Matter and us being neighbors at that site,” Ashkeboussi said.

The key takeaways from Global 2026 are straightforward: four companies are moving from planning to execution, with specific sites, agreements, and timelines now public. Urenco is expanding in New Mexico; Centrus is scaling HALEU production in Ohio; General Matter and GLE are both betting on Paducah. Globally, Urenco produces 17.2 million SWU per year and is also developing a HALEU facility at its Capenhurst, England, site, expected to be ready by 2031. The domestic enrichment gap is real—but for the first time in decades, multiple private players are actively working to close it.

Kelly Lippke

Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.