BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2003--USEC today encouraged nonproliferation advocates from a dozen countries to support the rapid deployment of new nuclear power plants as a means of eliminating more nuclear warhead material worldwide.
USEC President and CEO William H. Timbers' remarks were delivered on his behalf by USEC Senior Vice President Philip G. Sewell at an international nuclear nonproliferation conference in Moscow sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. It was noted that an increase in the number of commercial nuclear power plants would create more demand for nuclear fuel. A portion of that demand could be met using fuel derived from nuclear warhead material.
Warhead-derived nuclear fuel has been used in the United States for nearly a decade under the successful U.S.-Russian Megatons to Megawatts program. Through the program, Russian nuclear weapons material is recycled into reactor fuel for sale to electric utilities. Virtually all of America's 103 nuclear power stations have used this fuel. To date, Megatons to Megawatts has eliminated nuclear material equal to more than 7,500 warheads. By the program's conclusion in 2013, the total will be 20,000 nuclear warheads. Under a separate Megatons to Megawatts initiative between USEC and the U.S. Department of Energy, American highly enriched uranium is also being recycled into reactor fuel.
Building on the Megatons to Megawatts concept, a rapid expansion of nuclear power would aid nonproliferation efforts worldwide. At the same time, it would help meet the growing demand for electricity and mitigate global climate change. Such a program would be at the "intersection of mutual interests," serving both advocates of commercial nuclear power and nonproliferation.
The complete text of Timbers' speech can be found in the News Room section of USEC's website, www.usec.com.
USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU), a global energy company, is the world's leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.
CONTACT: USEC Inc.
Charles Yulish, 301-564-3391
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SOURCE: USEC Inc.