BETHESDA, Md., May 03, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) and The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) have launched American Centrifuge Manufacturing, LLC (ACM) to provide integrated manufacturing and assembly of centrifuge machines for USEC's American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio. Based in Oak Ridge, Tenn., ACM will also provide spare parts and other maintenance support services for the American Centrifuge Project.
USEC established American Centrifuge Manufacturing, effective May 1, in concert with the B&W subsidiary Babcock & Wilcox Technical Service Group, Inc. (B&W TSG).
The company will be housed at USEC's American Centrifuge Technology and Manufacturing Center, which has been operated by Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Clinch River, LLC since 2007. Approximately 160 B&W TSG and USEC employees working at the Oak Ridge facility have been assigned to the new company.
Once the U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee and other centrifuge project funding needed to complete the American Centrifuge Plant is secured and the project is remobilized, the total number of ACM workers is expected to grow to about 600 as ACM ramps up to the full manufacturing rate. Overall, the American Centrifuge Project will create about 8,000 jobs in total, with nearly half of them in Ohio. Approximately 11,500 centrifuges will be built for final assembly and installation in Piketon.
Carl Durham, who serves as president of Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Clinch River, is now president and general manager of the new company. Larry Cutlip, who is USEC's director of centrifuge manufacturing, is vice president.
"American Centrifuge Manufacturing will be a critical part of the American Centrifuge Project as it focuses on manufacturing and delivering high-quality commercial centrifuges," said Phil Sewell, USEC senior vice president of American Centrifuge and Russian HEU, and chair of the ACM Board of Managers. "Combining USEC's expertise in centrifuge technology with Babcock & Wilcox's decades of manufacturing expertise, ACM will integrate the activities of multiple suppliers and deliver finished centrifuge machines to the American Centrifuge Plant on time and on budget."
Sewell added that the project will offer national security and non-proliferation benefits for the United States as a source of supply to meet defense requirements and to support the U.S. role in assuring international nuclear fuel supplies are available to countries that forgo the deployment of sensitive nuclear fuel technologies.
The American Centrifuge is USEC's next-generation uranium enrichment technology. It is based on U.S. centrifuge technology, a proven, energy-efficient technology originally developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and significantly improved by USEC using updated materials and manufacturing methods.
Working together, USEC and B&W teams have developed a unique domestic manufacturing capability that ACM will now put into commercial operations as an integrated joint company.
Technology
American Centrifuge Manufacturing will be one of two major USEC centrifuge-related initiatives in Oak Ridge. ACM will focus on manufacturing. A separate group comprised of USEC personnel, located at USEC's Centrifuge Technology Center and the East Tennessee Technology Park, will be the hub for the technology behind the centrifuge program, serving as the design agent for the project and conducting on-going machine design, development and testing activities.
The centrifuge technology activity also uses the services of Oak Ridge National Laboratory employees under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with DOE. These activities have been under way in Oak Ridge since 2002 and will continue as an integral part of the American Centrifuge Program.
About USEC Inc.
USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. On line at www.usec.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" - 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 deployment of the American Centrifuge technology, including risks related to performance, cost, schedule and financing; our success in obtaining a loan guarantee from DOE for the American Centrifuge Plant, including our ability to address the technical and financial concerns raised by DOE and the timing of any loan guarantee; our ability to reach agreement with DOE on acceptable terms of a conditional commitment, including the timing of any decision and the determination of credit subsidy cost, and our ability to meet all required conditions to funding; our ability to obtain additional financing beyond the $2 billion of DOE loan guarantee funding for which we have applied, including our success in obtaining Japanese export credit agency financing of $1 billion; the impact of the demobilization of the American Centrifuge Project and uncertainty regarding our ability to remobilize the project and the potential for termination of the project; our ability to meet the November 2011 financing milestone and other milestones under the June 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement; restrictions in our credit facility that may impact our operating and financial flexibility and spending on the American Centrifuge Project; 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 our ability to satisfy the significant closing conditions in the securities purchase agreement governing the transactions and our ability to close on the second phase of the transactions prior to the outside date of June 30, 2011, and the impact of a failure to consummate the transactions on our business and prospects; our ability to achieve the benefits of any strategic relationships with Toshiba and B&W; changes in U.S. government priorities and the availability of government funding, including loan guarantees; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which is available on our website at www.usec.com. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements except as required by law.
SOURCE: USEC Inc.
USEC Inc.
Media:
Paul Jacobson, 301-564-3399
or
Investors:
Steven Wingfield, 301-564-3354