Progressing toward the end of decontamination and decommissioning of an industrial-scale uranium-enrichment demonstration in Ohio, uranium fuel broker Centrus Energy Corp. saw its quarterly losses widen and revenue shrink in the three months ended June 30.
The results were not a surprise to the company, CEO Daniel Poneman, the former U.S. deputy energy secretary, said in Centrus’ latest quarterly earnings press release, which hit the wire after U.S. market close Wednesday. The company books most of its revenue in the fourth quarter, according to the release.
In the second quarter just ended, Centrus lost $24.4 million, or $2.69 a share. That compares with a loss of $2.9 million, or $0.32 a share, in the 2016 quarter. Quarterly revenue fell to $44 million from $63.4 million a year ago, the company reported. The prior-year result included a non-recurring early extinguishment of debt that added $16.7 million to the 2016 quarter’s earnings.
Wednesday’s press release indicated that decontamination and decommissioning of the American Centrifuge demonstration plant in Piketon, Ohio, is marching on. Costs related to decommissioning fell to about $6.2 million from roughly $16.76 million: a 37-percent year-over-year decrease, Centrus said.
“Costs in the prior period included demobilization costs in preparation for the decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of the Piketon demonstration facility, which commenced in the second quarter of 2016,” Centrus stated in the press release.
In its previous quarterly earnings report, Centrus said it expected to complete American Centrifuge teardown around the end of this year. Management did not include a target completion date in its latest quarterly earnings press release. The company estimates it will cost $27.2 million to complete the rest of the decontamination and decommissioning.
Centrus began tearing down the industrial-scale American Centrifuge demonstration at DOE’s Portsmouth Site last year, even as it continued a much smaller-scale technology demonstration at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee under a one-year, $25 million contract with lab operator UT Battelle. The deal runs through Sept. 30.
In June, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Centrus’ plan to ship decommissioning waste from the American Centrifuge plant by road to the Nevada National Security Site for disposal. Waste headed to Nevada includes solid radioactive, liquid radioactive, and low-level mixed waste. Centrus expects to make roughly 315 shipments in total, wrapping up some time in 2018.
At least some of the solid, low-level mixed waste will have to be treated at the commercially operated EnergySolutions facility in Oak Ridge before it can be forwarded to Nevada for final disposal, the NRC has said.
