French nuclear fuels group Orano has been awarded $900 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to help build a uranium enrichment facility in the United States, the company said on Tuesday.
The funding confirms U.S. government support for the project and will allow it to move ahead with filing a license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the first half of 2026, Orano said.
The French company had announced plans to build the facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 2024 but was awaiting government funding before moving ahead with what will be its first enrichment plant abroad, requiring total investment of between $4 and $5 billion.
Trump signed an executive order last year to reduce regulations and fast-track new licenses for nuclear reactors and power plants and reinvigorate uranium production and enrichment in the country.
Commissioning of the Tennessee plant is expected in 2031.
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