The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is establishing a consortium to strengthen the country's nuclear supply chain, and reduce its reliance on foreign sources of enriched uranium and other critical materials.

The Defense Production Act Consortium will allow U.S. companies in the nuclear sector to work with the DOE to strengthen each stage of the industry's supply chain, including the mining, processing, enriching, recycling and fabricating of uranium. The program will also allow companies to collaborate with the federal government under special antitrust protections, helping them coordinate investments, share information and accelerate projects aimed at securing a stable, domestic source of nuclear fuel.

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“There are major gaps in our nuclear fuel cycle infrastructure that leave the United States heavily dependent on foreign sources of enriched uranium,” said Acting Assistant Energy Secretary Mike Goff in an August 22 news release.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 99% of uranium used in the country's nuclear generators in 2023 was imported, primarily from Canada, Australia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In 2024, the Biden administration announced $2.7 billion in funds to help revive domestic fuel production for U.S. nuclear plants over the next decade, by investing in new uranium enrichment facilities, and expanding capacity at existing ones.

The DOE's new consortium is scheduled to meet for the first time on October 14, 2025, with plans to work with industry stakeholders to identify potential participants in the program in the intervening months.