A former SpaceX engineer wants to help end the US’s hunger for special uranium fuel
Written by Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former SpaceX engineer Scott Nolan, CEO of startup General Matter, is on a mission to help phase Russia out of highly enriched nuclear fuel by producing it on a commercial scale in the United States and reducing its cost.
Nolan co-founded San Francisco-based General Matter this year to develop high-enriched low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, for a variety of planned nuclear plants including small reactors, or SMRs, that supporters hope will take off. in the 2030s.
HALEU has uranium enriched to between 5% and 20%, which supporters say has the potential to power new high-tech reactors. Uranium fuel used in today’s reactors is enriched to about 5%. Big Tech companies like Amazon have plans to build new reactors to supply power-hungry data centers.
“We believe that HALEU is the most urgent need in the market today, and it is very sensitive to enrichment costs,” Nolan told Reuters in his first press conference since founding the company.
“We are focused not only on restoring domestic energy, but on reducing costs significantly,” Nolan said.
General Matters’ goal is to reduce the cost of enriching HALEU, long-term, Nolan said. HALEU is mainly made in Russia, and its price is not available. Estimates range from $25,000 to $35,000 per kilogram of uranium.
The US Department of Energy in October awarded initial contracts to four companies including General Matters seeking to produce HALEU in the United States – part of a move to start domestic production. The United States plans to award $2.7 billion in HALEU contracts, under Congress in the coming years, the department said.
General Matters, which currently does not have the infrastructure to make uranium fuel, will face intense competition from other companies with experience and resources in the uranium industry.
Other US-backed companies are: Urenco USA, a European firm operating in New Mexico; Orano USA, based in Maryland with global headquarters in France; and Centrus Energy’s division of American Centrifuge Operating.
Critics of HALEU’s use say its enrichment level means it is a weapons hazard, and recommend limiting its enrichment to 10% to 12%. Nolan said his company will look to regulators to determine the level.
Nolan is also a partner in Founders Fund, a venture capital fund that was an early investor in SpaceX and that Peter Thiel, a prominent supporter of President-elect Donald Trump, helped launch.
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