-Application Submitted Ahead of Schedule-
BETHESDA, Md., Feb 12, 2003 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Taking another key step in its plan to deploy the world's most advanced uranium enrichment technology, USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU) today submitted a license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to construct and operate the American Centrifuge Demonstration Facility at its Portsmouth plant in Piketon, Ohio.
Scheduled to begin operation in 2005, the demonstration facility will contain a lead cascade of up to 240 centrifuge machines, the first new centrifuge enrichment machines in the United States. The lead cascade is the basic building block of a commercial enrichment plant. It will yield cost, schedule and performance data before USEC begins construction of a $1 billion to $1.5 billion commercial plant later in the decade.
"Submission of this license application is an important event for USEC, the U.S. nuclear industry and power plant operators around the world," said Dennis Spurgeon, USEC Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. "We have delivered our blueprint for operating the American Centrifuge, a technology that will help ensure our position as the global leader in uranium enrichment."
USEC's design will leverage more than two decades of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) research and development. In 1985, DOE centrifuge machines demonstrated a production rate for enriching uranium several times that of any commercial centrifuge operating today. The American Centrifuge employs this same proven technology, while improving efficiency and reducing costs through the use of state-of-the-art materials, control systems and manufacturing processes.
USEC is submitting its application more than two months ahead of schedule. The NRC will perform an extensive safety and environmental review.
"We are delivering on our commitment to our customers as well as to America's energy security and national security interests. Our new enrichment technology will provide a reliable and competitive fuel source for the world's nuclear power plants," Spurgeon said.
USEC has also begun testing key centrifuge components at the Company's facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Early results are positive, and tests will continue for several months.
The American Centrifuge Demonstration Facility will be located in the existing centrifuge facilities at USEC's Portsmouth plant, where DOE operated hundreds of centrifuge machines in the 1980s. These existing buildings have been well maintained and provide a strong infrastructure. The facility is expected to employ approximately 50 people.
USEC will make a decision on siting the commercial plant in 2004. The Company expects to build the plant either at Portsmouth or in Paducah, Kentucky, where it operates a uranium enrichment plant. The new plant will provide several hundred manufacturing and construction jobs in addition to approximately 500 operating jobs.
This news release contains forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainty, including certain assumptions regarding the future performance of USEC. Actual results and trends may differ materially depending upon a variety of factors, including, without limitation, market demand for USEC's products, pricing trends in the uranium and enrichment markets, deliveries under the Russian Contract, the availability and cost of electric power, implementing agreements with DOE regarding uranium inventory remediation and the use of advanced technology and facilities, satisfactory performance of the centrifuge technology at various stages of demonstration, USEC's ability to successfully execute its internal performance plans, the refueling cycles of USEC's customers, final determinations of environmental and other costs that USEC accrues, the outcome of litigation, and the impact of any government regulation. Revenue and operating results can fluctuate significantly from quarter to quarter, and in some cases, year to year.
USEC Inc., a global energy company, is the world's leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.
CONTACT:
USEC Inc.
Elizabeth Stuckle, 301/564-3399
Charles Yulish, 301/564-3391