BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 2012--
USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) today announced that Robert Warther has been named
deputy program manager for the American Centrifuge research, development
and demonstration (RD&D) program. The board of managers of American
Centrifuge Demonstration, LLC, a subsidiary responsible for running the
RD&D program, approved Warther’s selection at its initial meeting on
August 3. Warther will report to Paul Sullivan, who is serving as the
program manager for the RD&D program.
Robert Warther has been named deputy program manager for the American Centrifuge research, development and demonstration (RD&D) program. (Photo: USEC Inc.)
Also at its initial meeting, the board of managers selected Luis Reyes
as its chairman. Reyes is the former executive director for operations
at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Warther most recently served as vice president of environmental
management at B&W Y-12 in Oak Ridge, Tenn., where he was responsible for
seven nuclear clean-up projects. Warther also spent nearly a decade with
the Department of Energy working on a variety of nuclear projects. He
previously served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy nuclear
submarine service and holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical
engineering from Cornell University, a Master of Business Administration
from The Citadel and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from
Virginia Tech.
“Bob has had a distinguished career executing high profile, large-scale
nuclear projects. Not only has he had great success in completing his
projects on time, but he brought them in under budget,” said Sullivan,
who also serves as USEC’s vice president for American Centrifuge and
chief engineer. “When our strategic partners joined us, we looked
forward to tapping into their expertise to help us successfully complete
the American Centrifuge project. Bob is the latest example of that
relationship, and he is a welcome addition to our project leadership
team.”
In addition to providing advice and counsel to the program manager, the
deputy will also chair the Integrated Product Team. The team will serve
as a platform to address issues and potential issues by monitoring the
program’s budget, technical progress and production.
Program Background
The objective of the RD&D program is to demonstrate the American
Centrifuge technology through the construction and operation of a
cascade of 120 commercial centrifuge machines and to sustain the
domestic U.S. centrifuge technical and industrial base to ensure the
capability exists to meet future national security needs. This includes
activities to reduce the risks and improve the future prospects of
deployment of the American Centrifuge technology.
USEC intends to meet this objective through the construction and
operation of one complete demonstration cascade of 120 commercial
centrifuge machines and supporting infrastructure. USEC will also
demonstrate redundancy of the primary cascade support systems that will
be used in a production plant and will complete integrated testing of
those systems. The RD&D cascade would be incorporated in the full
commercial plant in Piketon, Ohio, which is planned to operate 96
identical cascades.
The RD&D program will support more than 1,000 direct jobs in Ohio,
Tennessee and several other states.
USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched
uranium fuel and nuclear industry related services for commercial
nuclear power plants.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 – that is,
statements related to future events. In this context, forward-looking
statements may address our expected future business and financial
performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”,
“intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “will” and other words of similar
meaning. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that
are, to different degrees, uncertain. For USEC, particular risks and
uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ
materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to: risks related to the ongoing transition
of our business, including uncertainty regarding the transition of the
Paducah gaseous diffusion plant and uncertainty regarding continued
funding for the American Centrifuge project and the impact of decisions
we may make in the near term on our business and prospects; uncertainty
regarding the timing, amount and availability of additional funding for
the research, development and demonstration (“RD&D”) program and the
dependency of government funding on Congressional appropriations;
restrictions in our credit facility on our spending on the American
Centrifuge project and the potential for us to demobilize the project;
limitations on our ability to provide any required cost sharing under
the RD&D program; the ultimate success of efforts to obtain a loan
guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) and other financing
for the American Centrifuge project, including the ability through the
RD&D program or otherwise to address the concerns raised by DOE with
respect to the financial and project execution depth of the project, and
the timing and terms thereof; potential changes in our anticipated
ownership of or role in the American Centrifuge project; the impact of
actions we have taken or may take to reduce spending on the American
Centrifuge project, including the potential loss of key suppliers and
employees, and impacts to cost and schedule; the impact of delays in the
American Centrifuge project and uncertainty regarding our ability to
remobilize the project; the potential for DOE to seek to exercise its
remedies under the June 2002 DOE-USEC agreement; risks related to the
completion of the remaining two phases of the three-phased strategic
investment by Toshiba Corporation (“Toshiba”) and Babcock & Wilcox
Investment Company (“B&W”), including the potential for immediate
termination of the securities purchase agreement governing their
investments; changes in U.S. government priorities and the availability
of government funding, including loan guarantees; uncertainty regarding
the continued capitalization of certain assets related to the American
Centrifuge Plant and the impact of a potential impairment of these
assets on our results of operations; and other risks and uncertainties
discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including our Annual Report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form
10-Q, which are available on our website at www.usec.com.
We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news
release except as required by law.
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Source: USEC Inc.
USEC Inc.
Media:
Paul Jacobson, 301-564-3399
or
Investors:
Steven
Wingfield, 301-564-3354
