- American Centrifuge Technology and Manufacturing Center -
BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 1, 2008--USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU) announced today that it has purchased the former Boeing site in Oak Ridge, Tenn., where workers have been manufacturing, balancing and testing a limited number of components for USEC's American Centrifuge uranium enrichment program.
The approximately 74-acre site on Boeing Road features 440,000 square feet of buildings and will be known as the American Centrifuge Technology and Manufacturing Center. It includes a 200,000 square-foot building with a high bay structure that was specifically built for manufacturing, balancing and testing centrifuge machines in support of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) gas centrifuge enrichment program in the 1980s.
USEC hired Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group, Inc. (B&W) to take over centrifuge machine manufacturing, balancing and testing work from Boeing last summer. Since then, USEC has been making significant building improvements such as upgrading electrical systems and installing foundations for new production machining equipment, robotics, computer control and testing systems to support the current manufacturing ramp-up in centrifuge parts production.
"Purchasing this facility in Oak Ridge is an excellent investment for USEC," said Philip G. Sewell, USEC senior vice president, American Centrifuge and Russian HEU. "This unique building has been a focal point for centrifuge balancing and testing activities for decades and is a core element of the manufacturing infrastructure for our American Centrifuge program. Using this facility saves USEC valuable time and money compared to building a new one.
"We are proud to carry on the tradition of using these facilities to test the latest U.S. centrifuge technology and to keep important centrifuge manufacturing jobs in Oak Ridge, where scientists first began testing centrifuge enrichment technologies decades ago," Sewell said.
USEC received a comprehensive package of business investment incentives and tax credits from the state of Tennessee, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the city of Oak Ridge and Anderson County last year to keep its centrifuge machine manufacturing work in Oak Ridge. Currently USEC has more than 200 direct employees working on the program in Oak Ridge. B&W is expected to hire approximately 400 Oak Ridge workers for peak production rates. USEC purchased the site for $5 million, though its assessed value is $13 million. The Company is making more than $50 million in improvements to the site.
The American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, will use U.S. gas centrifuge technology based on a design originally developed by DOE but with design, material and manufacturing improvements. USEC has been testing and manufacturing individual machine components at its Centrifuge Technology Center and K-1600 facilities in Oak Ridge since 2005. USEC began its centrifuge program in Oak Ridge in 2001.
USEC is working toward beginning commercial plant operations at the American Centrifuge Plant in late 2009 and having approximately 11,500 machines deployed in 2012, which would provide about 3.8 million separative work units (SWU) of production based on current estimates of machine output and plant availability.
As America's only commercial uranium enrichment facility using U.S. centrifuge technology, the American Centrifuge Plant will play an important role in America's energy security. Enrichment is the process by which the concentration of the fissionable uranium isotope, U-235, is increased in order to make fuel for nuclear power plants.
USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.
This news release contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that involve risks and uncertainty. 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: the success of the demonstration and deployment of our American Centrifuge technology including our ability to meet our performance targets and schedule for the American Centrifuge Plant; the cost of the American Centrifuge Plant and our ability to secure required external financial support; changes in existing restrictions on imports of Russian enriched uranium; changes to, or termination of, our contracts with the U.S. government and changes in U.S. government priorities and the availability of government funding, including loan guarantees; the competitive environment for our products and services; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which are available on our website www.usec.com. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements except as required by law.
Photos of the facility are available at:
http://www.usec.com/americancentrifuge_manufacturing_ACTMC.htm
CONTACT: USEC Inc.
Media: Elizabeth Stuckle, 301-564-3399
Investors: Steven Wingfield, 301-564-3354
SOURCE: USEC Inc.