USEC RD&D PROGRAM ENDS THIS WEEK

The Department of Energy research, development and deployment cost share program supporting USEC’s American Centrifuge technology is set to end Tuesday with no clear near-term path for the project. USEC has said it can’t continue to fund the program itself, and while the Department has about $9.5 million in appropriated funds for the project available, it hasn’t made them available yet to American Centrifuge. USEC has met all technical milestones in the nearly two-year program, which demonstrated the technology on a commercial scale by building and operating a full cascade of centrifuges.  

 

Last week, DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz said the Department plans to continue to support American Centrifuge and plans to shift management from USEC to Oak Ridge, but did not provide many details. “The technology passed all the milestones in the R&D program. We’ve got to preserve the technology, preserve the IP of course and figure out what’s our pathway to the national security needs that we need to meet,” he said.