CINCINNATI (AP) — The Department of Energy said Friday
that it is making a $44 million down payment in an effort to help a
uranium enrichment project in southern Ohio stay afloat.
The
action will allow the Bethesda, Md.-based developer of the planned
American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon to continue with a necessary
research and development project, government and USEC Inc. officials
said. The project is needed to reduce financial and technical risks that
have held up USEC’s application for a $2 billion loan guarantee for the
planned facility.
The government will assume $44 million of
USEC’s liability for disposal of some of the company’s enriched uranium
byproducts called "tails," said Richard Kauffman, senior adviser to
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu. That will enable the company to invest
that amount of money in the research.
Kauffman said that while the
action announced Friday is not a long-term solution, it will allow the
research, development and demonstration project to continue until
Congress acts to release needed funding.
The objective is to
prevent the company from having to stop the American Centrifuge Plant
project. The company has reached a point where it will have to let
workers go if it does not get the funding for the research project,
Kauffman said.
"We are pleased with the department’s support,"
USEC spokesman Paul Jacobson said Friday. The company said in a
statement that the interim funding plan will provide money for research
activities through the end of March.
The department announced in
October that it would work with the company on the research and
development that it says is needed to demonstrate that the uranium
enrichment technology would work on a commercial basis.
Kauffman says that if that can be done, it would be easier for the company to get
contracts and attract other investors.
The
government’s part of the funding for the research and development would
be capped at $300 million, and the department needs congressional
approval to move money within its existing budget to support the
research. The department has been working for months with Congress to
try to get that transfer authority.
"We look forward to continuing
to work with Congress to support this critical project that will
promote economic growth and strengthen America’s national security,"
said department spokesman Jen Stutsman
DOE has said that it is in
the government’s interest to have a domestic producer of enriched
uranium because nuclear power is an important part of the U.S. fuel
supply, representing about 20 percent of the power produced.
Secretary Chu has said that while assuming liability, the department has taken
precautions to protect taxpayers.
In
exchange for the department’s down payment, the government will receive
$44 million worth of enriched uranium," Stutsman said.
Congressional
supporters of the American Centrifuge Plant have said it could bring as
many as 4,000 construction jobs and 400 long-term jobs to Piketon, if
the $2 billion loan guarantee is eventually approved.
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Associated Press writer JoAnne Viviano in Columbus contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.