TAILS RE-ENRICHMENT PROGRAM TO BOOST USEC 2012 REVENUE MORE THAN $300M

Following the finalization of a program to have USEC re-enrich some of the Department of Energy’s uranium hexafluoride tails, USEC updated its financial projections yesterday to increase its anticipated revenue for 2012 by between $300 million and $400 million. Prior financial projections assumed that USEC would stop operating the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant at the end of May, based mainly on low demand for enriched uranium. But last month DOE and USEC entered into a five-party agreement to re-enrich the tails, producing about 480 metric tons of low enriched uranium for use by the Tennessee Valley Authority, Energy Northwest and the Bonneville Power Administration. “Under the new contract, USEC expects to increase SWU deliveries in 2012 by approximately 30 percent compared to last year,” a USEC release states. “Revenue from the sale of SWU is expected to be approximately $1.8 billion, an increase of $300 million to $400 million over prior guidance.” Re-enrichment work started June 1 and is expected to run until June 2013.