Uranium Enrichment & Fuel Cycle

Both supporters and opponents of a $150 million federal program for uranium enrichment activities are ramping up efforts to sway other lawmakers as the Defense Authorization Act gets ready to hit the House floor. Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) is a leading opponent of the Department of Energy research and development program, which is expected fund […]

In an option that could keep USEC’s American Centrifuge Project funded beyond the end of the month, the Department of Energy announced yesterday that it is considering acquiring at least 40 AC100 centrifuges from the company. In return for the machines, DOE would take title to a portion of USEC’s depleted uranium tails and accept […]

The Department of Energy late last week cited Paducah cleanup contractor LATA Environmental Services of Kentucky for violations of DOE worker safety and health and nuclear safety regulations. The violations were tied to two incidents that occurred last year—a March 9, 2011, heat stress event during which an employee lost consciousness; and a May 22, […]

USEC creditor JPMorgan Chase Bank has given the company 15 more days obtain additional funding for the American Centrifuge Project before significantly restricting the amount USEC can spend on the program. A line of credit, which currently funds the project at $15 million per month, had been set to expire on June 1. However, on […]

An amendment striking the $100 million in funding provided in the Fiscal Year 2013 House Energy and Water Appropriations bill for a Department of Energy program supporting uranium enrichment technology passed in the House by voice vote yesterday. However, it is still unclear whether the provision will be adopted—appropriators have requested a recorded vote, which […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration is expanding its supply of low-enriched uranium set aside as a backup source for potential buyers of mixed-oxide fuel, arranging for a team of WesDyne International and B&W Nuclear Fuel Services to downblend another five metric tons of highly enriched uranium for the fuel reserve. The NNSA issued a notice […]

As the clock ticks down on USEC’s decision on whether it will continue operations at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant beyond May, the Department of Energy is wrapping up a market study that will examine changing DOE’s self-imposed 10 percent cap on its share of the annual domestic uranium supply. Such a change could pave […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting in Piketon, Ohio, tonight to discuss the agency’s recent review of safety performance at USEC’s American Centrifuge Lead Cascade Facility with USEC officials. The review, which covered a period from July 2010 through January 2011, found no areas needing improvement in safety operations, radiological controls, facility […]

In a move that could keep the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant operating beyond May, the Board of Directors for both the Tennessee Valley Authority and Energy Northwest are set to consider an agreement for uranium enrichment services this Thursday. Plant operator USEC has said that without sufficient demand it will shut the plant down when […]

The National Nuclear Security Administration won’t get the $150 million it requested for research, development and demonstration funding for USEC’s American Centrifuge Project from Senate appropriators, but it will finally receive transfer authority DOE long sought for the project. Though the full version of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee’s version of the FY2013 […]

House appropriators added a provision requiring the Department of Energy to report on the impacts of its uranium transfers on the mining industry to the Fiscal Year 2013 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill that cleared the House Appropriations Committee yesterday. The changes came in a manager’s amendment offered by House Energy and Water Appropriations Chairman […]

Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) is looking to strike $100 million in House funding for a Department of Energy program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge Project when the matter comes to the House floor. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee reported out the Fiscal Year 2013 Energy and Water spending bill, which provided the funding for a […]

The uranium mining and conversion industry is criticizing an ongoing Department of Energy market analysis that would consider raising the Department’s self-imposed 10 percent cap on U.S. uranium demand. DOE set the limit in 2008 when it rolled out its excess uranium inventory disposition plan, but in recent months there has been talk of selling […]

USEC reported a net loss of $28.8 million for the first quarter of 2012, largely as a result of expenses related to a research, development and deployment program for the American Centrifuge project proposed by the Department of Energy. However, the company did report an increase in separative work unit revenue and a 179 percent […]

Secretary of Energy Steven Chu told Republican members of Kentucky’s Congressional delegation late last week that he plans to develop an agreement within 30 days on the future of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. Ed Whitfield had sought the meeting, held March 9, amid growing […]

USEC moved one small step closer yesterday to obtaining federal funding for its American Centrifuge Project, with the Senate approving by a voice vote an amendment to the transportation bill making its way through that chamber that would give the Department of Energy the authority to transfer up to $150 million to USEC for the […]

Plant operator USEC took another step towards the possible shutdown of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant yesterday, when executives acknowledged in a call with investors that efforts to keep the plant alive may not be enough and expressed interest in doing decommissioning work at the facility. USEC CEO John Welch said that the company is […]

Following developments in the House yesterday, chances have slimmed for Congressional support for a Department of Energy program for give a financial lifeline to USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant before a funding deadline at the end of the month. The Senate passed a transportation bill last week that included a provision giving DOE transfer authority to […]

The United Steelworkers labor union is again raising the threat of taking the Department of Energy to court to resolve a long-standing dispute over worker benefits at the Portsmouth D&D project. In a letter sent earlier this month to Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, USW International President Leo Gerard called on DOE to resolve […]

As Congress weighs whether to extend a $150 million financial lifeline to USEC over the next few weeks, Senate appropriators yesterday raised concerns about the Administration’s request for another $150 million in FY 2013 to support a two-year demonstration for USEC’s American Centrifuge Project, questioning the viability of the beleaguered company itself. Senate Energy and […]

USEC’s American Centrifuge Project could run out of money if the company is not able to secure additional funding this week, as a short-term lifeline for a government program supporting the project is set to run out at the end of March. In Congress, hopes for the program are centered on an extension to a […]

As the Nuclear Security Summit continues in Seoul, South Korea, a coalition of advocacy groups is urging Congressional appropriators to shift money that the Administration has requested for USEC to nonproliferation programs facing cuts. The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request included $150 million in its nonproliferation account for a research and […]

With short-term funding for the program running out, USEC announced Friday afternoon that it is prepared to fund the American Centrifuge Project through May as it awaits additional support from the Department of Energy and Congress. An interim deal with the Department kept a research, development and deployment cost-share program for the project running from […]

The first National Nuclear Fuel Cycle Summit kicks off this evening in Carlsbad, N.M., amid the region’s push for the establishment of new nuclear waste disposal facilities. Carlsbad is home to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and the three-day Summit comes as companies await the decision on the Department of Energy’s competition of the site’s […]

USEC took another step toward developing a new management structure yesterday, announcing the departure of two of the company’s vice presidents. Last month USEC said it was launching an effort to improve the company’s organizational structure, which Congressional appropriators have said is a requirement for supporting federal funding for the American Centrifuge Project. Lance Wright, […]

URENCO USA does not plan to challenge the Department of Energy’s sole source contract to USEC for the enrichment of $44 million worth of uranium that will be used to produce tritium. DOE announced the contract earlier this month as financial problems plagued USEC’s American Centrifuge Project and with the company’s Paducah enrichment plant facing […]

The Department of Energy’s $44 million in short-term support for a USEC centrifuge plant R&D program without Congressional backing has rankled Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Last month, DOE announced that it would assume $44 million in liability for depleted uranium tails from USEC, and in return the company would provide […]

Responding to concerns by Senate appropriators about interim funding provided for USEC centrifuge plant R&D program, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu said yesterday that if the program is fully funded DOE will work to clarify the technology’s intellectual property rights and other issues. In a letter to Chu late last month, Senate Appropriations Energy […]

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is holding up confirmation of a slate of Department of Energy nominees over the lack of DOE action on re-enriching a portion of its inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride tails. Yesterday, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) asked for unanimous consent to confirm nominees for five senior DOE positions—Under Secretary of Energy, Assistant […]

The potential shutdown of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant appears to be growing closer, with no signs yet of a necessary contract extension between plant operator USEC and the Tennessee Valley Authority. USEC has said it will move to shut down the Paducah plant in May, which would return it back to the Department of […]