Scott Nolan

A lease to build the first U.S.-owned, privately developed uranium enrichment facility in the country was signed in western Kentucky on Tuesday against a backdrop of containers holding depleted tails of uranium hexafluoride – some covered in rust.

A California-based company with ties to billionaire investor and Trump ally Peter Thiel announced plans Friday to build America’s first U.S.-owned, privately developed facility to enrich uranium in far western Kentucky.