REP. MARKEY CRITICIZES DOE DEAL WITH USEC

Reacting to a plan in which USEC would provide low-enriched uranium to the Department of Energy for tritium production as part of a short-term lifeline for its proposed centrifuge enrichment plant, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) is asking DOE to drop support for the company. “I believe that this support is unlikely to result in the successful commercialization of USEC’s domestic uranium enrichment technology, and is additionally unjustifiable using assertions of this project’s importance to national security,” Markey wrote in a letter sent Friday to DOE Secretary Steven Chu. While the USEC centrifuge plant project remains in a perilous position financially, DOE freed up some short term funding for USEC recently when it agreed to accept $44 million in liability for uranium tails from USEC. In exchange, USEC would provide LEU for the Department’s tritium production needs. However, Markey outlined in his letter several concerns he has about DOE’s support for USEC, including technical problems with the plant design and the company’s low bond rating.