USEC will need additional government funding after the end of the year to keep its American Centrifuge project running in 2014, USEC CEO John Welch said yesterday. The project is currently being financed through a Department of Energy research, development and deployment cost-share program that is set to end on Dec. 31. “The timing of our project construction beyond the conclusion of the RD&D program at the end of the year could leave us with a gap between the RD&D program and any potential future commercialization of American Centrifuge technology,” Welch said in an earnings call with investors. “In light of our liquidity we do not have the ability to continue to fund ACP at its current levels beyond the end of 2013 without additional government support. Even with the support our ability to provide funding in 2014 will be limited.”
The company is evaluating its options and may decide to demobilize or end the project in the near term, Welch said. “We are in ongoing discussions with the government regarding this dilemma,” he said. “We have a robust technology that is proven and ready for deployment but the enrichment market that will support that deployment is over supplied in the short term. The reason DOE is providing significant support for the RD&D program is the desire to maintain enrichment capability for national security purposes. Our foreign-owned competitors can’t provide that national security assurance.”