LEGISLATION WOULD INCREASE OVERSIGHT OF PROPOSED ENRICHMENT R&D PROGRAM

The Department of Energy would have a significant amount of control over the participant in a proposed uranium enrichment research and development program under the House version of the FY 2013 Defense Authorization bill released yesterday, which would also require DOE to justify its selection of a company. USEC’s American Centrifuge Project has been DOE’s target for the R&D program—for which the Department requested $150 million in FY 2013—but the full committee version of the legislation includes provisions that would ensure USEC is not singled out. Before funding the program, DOE would be required to “utilize merit selection procedures” and enter into an agreement with the company to “achieve specific technical criteria” by June 2014. If the criteria is not met by the agreed upon dates, the company would give all property and equipment related to the technology to DOE. Furthermore, DOE would be able to “establish, acquire, own, control, or otherwise participate in the management and operations of the recipient.”