LATEST ROUND OF DOE FUNDING FOR USEC NOT ENOUGH TO FINISH ACP R&D

The Department of Energy this week provided USEC with an additional $13.6 million in funds for a program supporting the American Centrifuge Plant, but the company says that won’t be enough to complete the program by its target at the end of the year. The Department has been incrementally funding a research, development and deployment cost-share program that aims to demonstrate the technology on a commercial scale, and so far has provided $241.3 million. While the program aims to be completed by Dec. 31, the newest round of funding is “not sufficient” to fund the program through that date, according to a USEC Securities and Exchange Commission Filing from this week. However, the latest agreement with DOE states that “there is an expectation that DOE would provide additional funding for the RD&D program for the funding period ending December 31, 2013. The remaining funding would be made through a subsequent modification to the cooperative agreement, with the amount of such funding to be determined,” according to the filing.

But according to USEC, the Continuing Resolution that passed Congress earlier this month could pay for the entire RD&D program—It provides funding for the program at the annual tare of $110 million minus automatic spending cuts. “USEC believes that this level of funding, if provided, will be sufficient to fund the RD&D program through December 31, 2013 and achieve the remaining technical milestones within the reduced spending plan described above,” the filing states.