USEC AND DOE LAUNCH EXTENSION UNTIL APRIL OF AMERICAN CENTRIFUGE PROGRAM

USEC and the Department of Energy yesterday launched a nearly three-month extension of a cost-share program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge technology in which additional tests will be performed. The extension, running from Jan. 29 until April 15, will use about $5.9 million of USEC funds and $23.05 million in DOE funds. The money was part of the $62 million for the program provided in the omnibus spending bill passed by Congress this month. The research, demonstration and development program had originally been set to wrap up after 18 months at the end of 2013, and USEC has met the goal of building and demonstrating a full commercial demonstration cascade of centrifuge machines. However, the company and DOE have sought to extend the program, as USEC can’t support it on its own due to financial troubles. 

 

USEC spokesman Paul Jacobson yesterday broadly outlined the company’s goals for the three-month extension. “USEC will test the American Centrifuge demonstration cascade in a range of operating parameters and configurations expected to be used during uranium enrichment operations,” he said in a statement. “Through the construction of a 120-machine commercial demonstration cascade and operations for more than 20 machine-years, we have demonstrated that the American Centrifuge technology can be relied on to meet U.S. national security needs. Our continued work will allow us to simulate a range of potential operating conditions while we sustain the U.S. centrifuge technical and industrial base for national security purposes and potential future deployment.”