Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

A total of 101 cleanup workers at the Department of Energy’s Paducah sites will be laid off by the end of the year, according to a notice sent Monday, impacting more than a quarter of employees for cleanup contractor LATA Kentucky . The layoffs are part of a workforce restructuring plan approved by the Department […]

After last week’s Department of Energy decision to enter into negotiations with Global Laser Enrichment for the sale of its depleted uranium hexafluoride inventory, it’s unclear what the impact could be on USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant. GLE is proposing building a facility at DOE’s Paducah site that could re-enrich the uranium tails. That could influence […]

Following the Department of Energy’s recent decision to enter into talks with Global Laser Enrichment about potentially building a plant at the Paducah site, the company confirmed yesterday material run through the plant could not be used for national security purposes. GLE is proposing to enrich a portion of the Department’s stockpile of depleted uranium […]

As the company faces uncertainty regarding the future of the American Centrifuge Plant, USEC’s Board of Directors is meeting today and could make key decisions on the company’s financial future. USEC said last month it may need to demobilize American Centrifuge in 2014 if it does not receive additional government support, and is facing a […]

Lawmakers supporting the uranium mining industry are planning to send a letter to the Department of Energy tomorrow expressing concern about the impacts of the Department’s most recent Excess Uranium Inventory Management Plan, WC Monitor has learned. DOE released the plan publicly last summer, and it found that the Department’s increases in uranium sales and […]

USEC announced yesterday that it has met three additional milestones in the Department of Energy research, development and deployment cost-share program supporting the American Centrifuge Plant. Over the weekend “a full production-scale cascade of 120-machines achieved 20-machine years of operations at commercial plant specifications,” according to a USEC release. That met three milestones for the […]

The Department of Energy is considering combining the infrastructure support services contracts for the Portsmouth and Paducah sites, according to a sources sought notice posted yesterday for the Portsmouth contract.  The work is currently being performed under two separate contracts, and DOE last month released a sources sought notice for the Paducah work. The Portsmouth […]

USEC will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2014 under a financial restructuring plan agreed to by a majority of the holders of its senior convertible notes, the company said today. Under the terms of the agreement, the company will replace approximately $530 million in convertible notes that are scheduled to […]

Following news of its plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, USEC’s share price fell about 60 percent yesterday, from $5.30 to $3.51. The stock dropped after USEC announced yesterday morning that it will file for bankruptcy as part of a financial restructuring plan it reached with holders of its $530 million in convertible notes, […]

The Department of Energy announced yesterday that it is working with Congress to extend a program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge project for three months beyond the Jan. 15 date that it been expected to end. However, the Department will continue to consider other options. "We are working with Congress to support the ACP project for […]

While the spending bill released this week includes $62 million for a program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge project, it also is making another $56.65 million in funding contingent on a Department of Energy cost-benefit analysis of potential domestic enrichment technologies for national security needs. The Department is supporting American Centrifuge through a cost-share research, development […]

Uranium enrichment firm URENCO USA has appointed David Sexton as its new president and CEO, the company announced yesterday. Sexton will take over for Gregory OD Smith, who has been named the chairman of the URENCO UK Board and chief cultural officer for the URENCO Group starting Feb. 1. Sexton has been with URENCO USA […]

As questions remain on funding for the company’s American Centrifuge Plant, USEC officials met recently with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Deputy Secretary Dan Poneman to discuss options for supporting ACP beyond the current RD&D effort. USEC provided updates on a research, development and deployment cost-share program that aims to demonstrate ACP on a commercial […]

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office is seeking a small business to provide support for oversight and lease administration for facilities being used by USEC as part of its American Centrifuge efforts, according to a sources sought notice posted yesterday. USEC has an American Centrifuge Technology and Manufacturing Center in Oak Ridge, which is […]

Swift & Staley Mechanical Contractors, the infrastructure contractor for the Paducah site, began moving yesterday to ramp down operations due to the current government shutdown. Swift & Staley is adjusting work schedules for its approximately 80 employees at Paducah to achieve a state of minimum essential operations. According to a notice sent to employees, obtained […]

Though USEC said last month that a government shutdown beyond Oct. 15 would have serious impacts on a Department of Energy program supporting the American Centrifuge Project, USEC says it has enough funding on hand now to last the month. “The American Centrifuge research, development and demonstration program has been incrementally funded throughout the program […]

USEC will complete another round of slightly less than100 layoffs at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant next week, after initial layoffs took place in August. Union employees were notified of layoffs starting on Oct. 14, while salaried employees will be notified Oct. 23. The plant operator is cutting employees following a shutdown of enrichment operations […]

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant deactivation procurement is going along as planned under the Continuing Resolution that is funding the government through Jan. 15, though the Department of Energy will need to seek a reprogramming if a funding bill is not passed, an Office of Environmental Management Official said yesterday at the Weapons Complex Monitor […]

USEC announced Friday that its board of directors added two members— Michael Diament, director of Magellan Health Services, Inc., and Mikel Williams, CEO of JPS Industries, Inc. The move expands the number of members on the board from nine to 11. “We are pleased to add two board members who have distinguished themselves in business […]

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 […]

USEC yesterday reported a net loss of $44.3 million for the third quarter of this year, compared with a net income of $4.5 million for the same quarter last year. The company attributed the loss to “a reduction in separative work unit (SWU) revenue and lower gross profit primarily due to non-production costs related to […]

USEC will need additional government funding after the end of the year to keep its American Centrifuge project running in 2014, USEC CEO John Welch said yesterday. The project is currently being financed through a Department of Energy research, development and deployment cost-share program that is set to end on Dec. 31. “The timing of […]

USEC and the Department of Energy are at odds over the how to de-lease the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, according to a USEC financial filing posted this week. After ceasing operations at the plant this summer, in August USEC gave DOE its required two-year notice to give up its lease to the plant. But the […]

Continuing a drop that followed an announcement questioning future financing for the American Centrifuge Plant, USEC’s stock dropped close to 8 percent yesterday to close at $5.54 per share. The company’s stock stood at about $7.80 late Monday before USEC reported its third quarter earnings, which showed a loss of $44.3 million and warned that […]

The U.S. International Trade Commission yesterday voted three to one to maintain an antidumping order on low enriched uranium from France. The ITC initiated a regular five-year review on the order last December, and in yesterday’s vote “determined that revoking the existing antidumping duty order on low-enriched uranium from France would be likely to lead […]

The URENCO USA enrichment plant has reached a production capacity of 3 million separative work units, the company announced this week. The New Mexico facility marked the increase in capacity Monday when it introduced uranium hexafluoride gas into its new centrifuge cascade. “In June 2010 we began enriching uranium in our very first cascade. It […]

A USEC official yesterday made the case that deploying its American Centrifuge project would be less expensive for the U.S. government than a government-owned plant used for solely national security purposes. The Department of Energy has frequently cited the national security aspect of American Centrifuge plant as justification for government funding supporting the project, stating […]

USEC’s share price continued to surge Friday, going from a low of $14.18 and hitting a peak of $22.54. The share price closed the day at a new high for the year of $19.21. This comes after USEC hit a low of $2.60 earlier in the month and saw its share price more than double […]

Portage late last week filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office over the Department of Energy’s recent award of the new Portsmouth environmental technical services contract to Restoration Services. Inc. The new contract is set to run for up to five years and is worth approximately $43 million. Portage declined to comment yesterday on […]

USEC has received another planned payment from the Department of Energy for a program supporting its American Centrifuge project, and yesterday’s announcement may have contributed to a 50 percent boost in share price as USEC’s stock price continued its steep rise. USEC last week finalized an infusion of $29.9 million from DOE, which is expected […]