DOE TO REQUEST $150M FOR USEC R&D PROGRAM IN FY12

By ExchangeMonitor

In an effort to get a cost-share R&D program for USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant off the ground as soon as possible, the Department of Energy plans to request permission from Congress to transfer $150 million to the project in FY 2012. “To pay for the federal portion of the project, DOE intends to submit a request for transfer authority to the Appropriations Committees to use existing DOE funds for the first $150 million; this transfer would allow the ACP RD&D program to begin this fiscal year through a repurposing of funds,” DOE said yesterday. The Department is working with Congress to identify the source of the funds, DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said in a written response. The federal contribution to the program would be capped at $300 million, and the remaining $150 million would be included in future budget requests.

While USEC has been pursuing a $2 billion loan guarantee for the plant since 2009, the company announced Friday that it was shifting the focus of its discussions with DOE to an R&D program. The company warned last month that if it did not receive a commitment by the end of October for the loan guarantee it would be forced to scale back work on the project. However, USEC said that the R&D program would allow it to avoid having to demobilize the project. USEC hopes to complete an initial scoping phase between now and the end of the year that would set technological and financial milestones for the rest of the project, followed by a technical verification phase that would involve demonstration of key systems. DOE would cover 80 percent of costs during the initial technical verification phase and 20 percent of the cost of the rest of the RD&D program.

The effort would ultimately include production and testing of a full train of 720 centrifuges, demonstrating that they can operate on a commercial scale. “If this effort is successful, the project would be much better positioned for commercialization. We look forward to working with members of Congress from the region to secure the authority required to use existing DOE funds to complete this RD&D program,” LaVera said.

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