While USEC has warned that its American Centrifuge Project would face layoffs and a suspension of work without additional funding by Nov. 1, investors Babcock and Wilcox and Toshiba have agreed to once again extend an investment deadline, this time to Jan. 15. "Any decision regarding continued spending or demobilizing the project will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis. However, if an agreement between USEC and DOE is not reached, actions to demobilize the project, including worker layoffs, could take effect,” USEC said in a release yesterday. USEC mailed notices to all 450 American Centrifuge workers in September informing them of potential layoffs in the first half of November. B&W and Toshiba had linked a $50 million infusion into the project to receipt of a Department of Energy loan guarantee commitment by the start of the month, but last week USEC announced it was shifting its discussions with DOE to a cost-share R&D program. This marks the fourth time the investors have extended the deadline.
Late last week, DOE denied a request from USEC for interim funding to keep the project running until the proposed program starts up. DOE has requested $150 in FY2012 budget authority from Congressional appropriators for the program. However, USEC also asked DOE to “provide partial funding by administrative action,” DOE Secretary Steven Chu said in an Oct. 27 letter to USEC. He added, “The Administration stands squarely behind the proposed RD&D program. However, ACP can only succeed with the sustained additional support of Congress, and therefore I believe it would be unwise to put additional taxpayer resources towards the project by administrative action absent clear Congressional indications of support for our proposed path forward.” USEC had hoped that funding would be provided by Nov. 1 in order to avoid disruptions to the project.