DOE Cuts American Centrifuge Project Funding

The Department of Energy will no longer provide funding for Centrus’ American Centrifuge project operations at its Piketon, Ohio facility, the company confirmed late last week. The announcement also entailed a reduction of funding for the American Centrifuge project’s research and development contract with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory by 60 percent for an additional year, with the possibility of additional extensions, the company said. Funding will be at $35 million per year, and the scope of activities will be limited to development activities at ORNL. "While obviously we are disappointed by the decision to significantly downsize America’s advanced centrifuge program, we appreciate the Laboratory’s recognition that the technology has been effectively demonstrated over the last two years of hard work at Piketon," Centrus Vice President Steve Penrod said in a statement. “We will work with the Laboratory and with Congress to protect as much of the core capabilities of the program as possible so that the technology will remain ready for deployment when the U.S. government calls upon it for national security purposes.”

 

As consequence of the funding reduction, Centrus will most likely need to lay-off a large number of its Ohio workforce. Centrus anticipates “that it will incur costs, which are being evaluated, associated with the reduction in workforce and the further demobilization of the program,” according to a release, and if the company needs to close its Piketon facility, Centrus “would incur still further costs associated with that closure and return of the facility in compliance with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements and pursuant to its lease with DOE.”