URENCO WILL NOT CHALLENGE DOE ENRICHMENT CONTRACT TO USEC

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 a possible shutdown in May. The Department said that USEC is the only company capable of enriching uranium for tritium production because of peaceful use assurances governing foreign enrichment technology, but URENCO USA says it is also legally able to do the enrichment at its facility in New Mexico, operated by LES. “While we believe we can do this work, we understand the Department of Energy is trying to throw a lifeline to our competitor in a time of need and we will not stand in the way,” Clint Williamson of LES told RW Monitor.