A U.S. company that a year ago revealed its plans to potentially make Richland one of its hubs for nuclear fuel production will use a dormant Hanford site facility located southwest of Energy Northwest as part of that effort.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management announced Feb. 3 that it established a partnership with nuclear fuel company General Matter to lease the Fuels and Materials Examination Facility, or FMEF.

The lease follows DOE awarding a $900 million contract to General Matter to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU.

“Activating FMEF for a modern mission reflects responsible stewardship and forward momentum for the site,” said Ray Geimer, manager for Hanford Field Office, in a statement. “This lease puts an asset back to work for the American people and reinforces the department’s commitment to safe revitalization across the Hanford footprint.”

It was under the name Washington Energy LLC that General Matter first began laying the groundwork for its future operations in the Tri-Cities, which could bring billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs.

In January 2025, it entered into an option agreement to buy 425 acres in the city of Richland’s Northwest Advanced Energy Park for up to $26.8 million.

On the same day that DOE announced its partnership with General Matter/Washington Energy LLC, the Richland City Council agreed to amend the agreement to give the company additional time to do its due diligence and address minor issues with the original plan.

“As I understand, the buyer is looking to get out on the site week after next with their survey team to start setting corners and that will help establish the actual description of the property for Option No. 1 which will be purchased,” Joe Schiessl, deputy city manager, told council members on Feb. 3.

The federal government has worked to jump-start the nuclear energy industry in recent years as part of a broader effort to support and secure domestic energy production.

The Trump administration, citing the intense energy needed for artificial intelligence, or AI, has thrown that effort into overdrive.

France-based Framatome, which operates a fuel production facility in Richland, has also received new federal commitments and partnered with emerging nuclear companies to bring advanced nuclear fuels to the market.

Details about General Matter, which was founded in 2023 and is based in San Francisco, have been scarce.

However, the company told Richland officials in the past that its goal is to develop a nuclear supply chain campus with its own manufacturing facility as the anchor. That facility would come through a $3 billion investment while creating 1,000 direct jobs and another 3,000 that would support them.

“There are a few whereas statements that describe how Richland may be playing into the national strategy. I think that will be coming into focus soon,” Schiessl said during the council meeting.

That may be why the company is looking at multiple sites in the region. The 190,000-square-foot FMEF, built as part of past efforts to support development of liquid sodium-cooled reactors, has never been used in a nuclear capacity and not supported a DOE mission since 1993. It is located in the 400 area, which straddles land at the southern end of the Hanford site between Energy Northwest’s Columbia Generating Station and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO.

General Matter will now evaluate that facility for necessary upgrades to support advanced nuclear fuel cycle technologies and materials.

“Rebuilding America’s nuclear fuel capabilities is critical to strengthening our nuclear industrial base, reducing our reliance on foreign providers and lowering energy costs for utilities and consumers,” said General Matter CEO Scott Nolan in a recent statement. “We thank our partners in Hanford and the Department of Energy for supporting us in the development of a stronger, more secure nuclear fuel supply chain built here in the United States.”