USEC, DOE TO EXTEND ACP PROGRAM BY THREE MONTHS

DOE so far has spent $256.9 million on the research, development and demonstration program, which is 20 percent funded by USEC. DOE had originally budgeted $280 million for the entire program, but it has come in under budget. The funding level for the extension will be about $10 million per month, 80 percent of which would come from DOE and be subject to Congressional appropriations, with the balance to be paid by USEC. While USEC has already met all the milestones in the cost-share program, the company has said that without additional government funding it will need to demobilize American Centrifuge. Earlier this week USEC said it planned to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but it had reached a deal to restructure more than $500 million in debt that is contingent on more government funds.

The three-month extension buys USEC, DOE and Congress more time to decide on the next steps for American Centrifuge, USEC spokesman Paul Jacobson said yesterday. “It buys time for everyone involved to recognize the important national security and energy security issues at stake and develop a longer-term approach to what is to be done with this technology,” he said. “DOE asked us to perform this program, we’ve performed it, it’s performed well, they’ve invested more than $250 million dollars in taking it this far. Now the question is what happens next with regard to keeping it viable and warm and ready to go.”