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ClearPath Action Rundown 
August 15th, 2025

Happy Friday!

The Rundown will be back and at the top of your inbox on Friday, August 29.

1. Uranium enrichment returns to Kentucky

A major private investment is set to revitalize a historic American energy site and boost the domestic supply chain for advanced nuclear fuel. General Matter, a nuclear fuel enrichment startup, signed a lease with DOE to begin building a new facility in western Kentucky.

This project:

• Involves an almost $1.5 billion investment to produce enriched uranium;
• Will be located at the former Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which stopped enriching uranium in 2013; and
• Aims to create 140 jobs and begin enrichment operations by 2030.

What’s clear: Public-private partnerships are essential to rebuilding the domestic nuclear fuel supply chain and ensuring energy independence, especially from Russia who currently dominates nuclear fuel supply chains. This investment demonstrates how private industry is stepping up to power the next generation of reliable nuclear reactors.

Plug in: Niko McMurray attended the groundbreaking, which featured remarks from Kentucky Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, and Representative James Comer. Recent Congressional action supported by these members, including banning the import of Russian uranium, has been critical to give companies the confidence to develop domestic supply chains.

2. ClearPath brings Congressional staff to Iceland

L-R: Andrew Kelley, Luke Bolar, Adam Stewart, Matt Mailloux, Hillary O’Brien, Amanda Sollazzo, Emily Johnson, Hali Gruber, Ayla Neumeyer, Ryan Mowrey, Lucy Sadler, Alexandra Slocum, Ken Klukowski, Grace Bellone, Andy Zach, Dillyn Carpenter

ClearPath brought a delegation of ten congressional staff members to Reykjavik, Iceland, as part of its Clean Energy Innovation Academy (CEIA). Iceland, which uses 30 percent geothermal energy for its grid, has innovative drilling, carbon management and power generation techniques. 

The delegation visited:

• Geothermal and hydropower power plants;
• Carbon management and drilling facilities; and
• U.S. Embassy and Iceland Ministry of the Environment, Energy Climate officials.

What’s clear: While Iceland’s success of 100% clean baseload energy is just a case study, adding more geothermal and hydropower will help the U.S. ensure grid security and meet growing demand with clean firm power.  

Plug in: Read more about this site visit in our full blog. 

Climeworks’ Mammoth facility, the world’s largest Direct Air Capture (DAC) facility designed to capture up to 36,000 tons of CO₂ a year.

3. New on natural gas permitting reform in NH

New Hampshire leaders want to increase the natural gas supply to combat high energy costs in the Northeast. Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), along with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, announced support for reviving the Constitution Natural Gas Pipeline project.

This project:

• Would connect natural gas supplies from Pennsylvania;
• Aims to lower energy costs for consumers without building new pipelines; and
• Has the potential for a more efficient federal review.

What’s clear: Expanding and modernizing energy infrastructure will help deliver reliable and affordable energy. The EPA’s efforts to streamline permitting is a win for increasing clean energy supply, lowering costs and reducing reliance on foreign energy.

4. Cheyenne to get AI data center powered by gas with carbon capture

5. ​​Mass-manufactured microreactor for the Air Force

Radiant, a company seeking to mass-manufacture portable nuclear reactors, has signed an agreement with the DIU and Air Force under the Advanced Nuclear Power Installations program to supply an Air Force base with a microreactor. 

This project aims to:

• Deliver the 1 MW Kaleidos microreactor in three years; 
• Produce power within 48 hours of arrival; and
• Supply Air Force bases with their own baseload electricity.

What’s clear: Bringing together DOE-led testing, defense energy priorities and the DIU’s goals of accelerating dual-use technologies marks another step toward expanding public-private nuclear support for civilian baseload power.

Plug in: Check out this recent blog, “Advanced Nuclear Energy Is Coming to U.S. Military Bases,” by Jake Kincer and Katie Weaver.

6. ​​Amazon and Brimstone advance lower-carbon cement

Low-carbon cement startup Brimstone and Amazon have signed an agreement for Amazon to reserve volumes of Brimstone’s cement and supplementary cementitious materials from its first commercial plant. This news was announced alongside successful third-party test results of Brimstone’s lower-carbon Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), which demonstrated that Brimstone’s OPC works as well as conventional materials. 

This is an important announcement because:

• Start-ups like Brimstone need firm demand signals to raise financing to scale up American manufacturing and create jobs;
• Data center buildout will add 1 million tons of new cement demand by 2030; and
• Hyperscalers need a supply of innovative, low-carbon materials.

Plug in: Check out this report by Rafae Ghani and Casey Kelly on how shifting to performance-based specifications and supporting testing of new materials can increase the adoption of American innovation like Brimstone’s OPC.

7. The Circuit

8. ICYMI

• Tune in: Luke Bolar spoke on a panel for The National Interest about “What Is ‘Energy Dominance?' And How Does America Get It?”
• Transportation Secretary and interim NASA administrator Sean Duffy announced expedited plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon last week.
• DOE selected 10 nuclear companies with the goal of achieving criticality in at least three test reactors by July 4, 2026. The Energy Department also selected Standard Nuclear as the first U.S. company in its fuel line pilot program.
• X-energy selects Clark Construction Group to build its TRISO-X Fuel Fabrication Facility in Oak Ridge, TN.
• DOE announced a forthcoming $50 million funding opportunity for a Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator to prototype and pilot innovative critical materials processing technologies.

ClearPath believes America must lead the world in innovation over regulation…markets over mandates…providing affordable, reliable, clean energy. 

That's all from us. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

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