Restrictions Would Be Put on DOE Uranium Transfers in House Bill, USEC Fund Rescinded

The Department of Energy would need to notify Congress 30 days before making any uranium transfers, and would need to conduct a new uranium market impact study if when the transfers take place the uranium value “is more than 10 percent lower than the gross fair market value on the date the most recent determination was signed by the Secretary,” language in the House version of the FY 2015 Energy and Water Appropriations bill states. DOE’s numerous recent uranium transfers, largely to support the American Centrifuge and environmental cleanup efforts, have been the focus of scrutiny by the uranium mining industry and its supporters in Congress.

 

The bill would also rescind the roughly $1.6 billion in the United States Enrichment Corporation Fund, a fund set up during the privatization of USEC in the 1990s to cover costs associated with privatization. Appropriators are aiming to prevent DOE from using those funds to pay for projects without gaining approval from lawmakers. Currently USEC’s American Centrifuge project is under new DOE-funded management by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.