News Release

BETHESDA, Md., Oct 27, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU) was informed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that it has largely completed its initial technical review of USEC's application for the American Centrifuge Plant and is proceeding to the next stage of the loan guarantee process. DOE has provided USEC with a draft term sheet that will serve as a framework for discussions between USEC and the DOE.

"The Department's decision to move forward reflects the significant progress we have made on both the technical and financial fronts in deploying the next generation of U.S. uranium enrichment technology," said John K. Welch, president and CEO of USEC. "We are very pleased to receive DOE's draft term sheet, which will provide a framework for further discussions. We look forward to working with DOE to continue advancing the project."

DOE transmitted to USEC a confidential draft term sheet for DOE's issuance of a loan guarantee in support of USEC's American Centrifuge Project. The terms and conditions in the draft term sheet provide a framework for the commencement of discussions on terms between USEC and DOE and may change as a result of due diligence.

USEC is investing in advanced centrifuge technology to meet the energy needs of a growing U.S. population, and to provide a long-term, reliable and secure fuel source for the U.S. and international nuclear power plants. USEC believes that the AC100 centrifuge machine that USEC will deploy in the American Centrifuge Plant will be the most advanced centrifuge uranium enrichment machine in the world.

As the only domestic enrichment facility using U.S. centrifuge technology, the American Centrifuge Plant will also help to rebuild U.S. nuclear manufacturing capabilities. This multi-year construction project would create nearly 8,000 U.S. jobs in ten states, with up to 4,000 in Ohio.

USEC has worked for the past decade to significantly improve and update the original U.S. centrifuge technology design developed by the Department of Energy using modern materials and techniques such as carbon fiber and computer-controlled assembly and operations. To date, USEC has invested more than $1.8 billion in the American Centrifuge Project including construction of the commercial American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio and for technology development, testing and manufacturing centers in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Background and Progress

Since March, USEC has operated its lead cascade of production-ready AC100 centrifuges in a commercial plant cascade configuration. Since August 2007, USEC's American Centrifuge machines have amassed more than 500,000 machine hours of runtime. Earlier this year, the company renewed a revolving credit facility and attracted a $200 million strategic investment from industry leaders Toshiba and Babcock & Wilcox and closed the $75 million first phase of the strategic investment in early September. USEC submitted an updated loan guarantee application to DOE in late July. Completion of due diligence by DOE and negotiation of terms and conditions between DOE and USEC are the next steps toward issuance of a conditional commitment. Funding under a DOE loan guarantee will only occur following conditional commitment, final documentation and satisfaction of conditions to closing. The company has pre-sold more than $3 billion of the initial output of the plant and is establishing a joint venture with Babcock & Wilcox for manufacture and assembly of the AC100 commercial machines.

Learn more about the American Centrifuge project, including a state-by-state breakdown of where jobs are created at www.americancentrifuge.com.

USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. 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 for the American Centrifuge Plant, including our ability to address the technical and financial concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE"); our ability to raise capital beyond the $2 billion of DOE loan guarantee funding for which we have applied; 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 2010 milestone under the June 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement related to financing the American Centrifuge project and other remaining milestones under that agreement; restrictions in our revolving 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 the impact of a failure to consummate the transactions on our business and prospects; certain restrictions that may be placed on our business as a result of the transactions with Toshiba and B&W our ability to achieve the benefits of any strategic relationships with Toshiba and B&W pricing trends and demand in the uranium and enrichment markets and their impact on our profitability; changes to, or termination of, our contracts with the U.S.; changes in U.S. government priorities and the availability of government funding, including loan guarantees; the impact of government regulation; the competitive environment for our products and services; changes in the nuclear energy industry; the impact of volatile financial market conditions on our business, liquidity, prospects, pension assets and credit and insurance facilities; 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. For a discussion of these risks and uncertainties and other factors that may affect our future results, please see Item 1A entitled "Risk Factors" and the other sections of our quarterly report on Form 10-Q and our annual report on Form 10-K that are available on our website, www.usec.com. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements except as required by law.

SOURCE: USEC Inc.

USEC Inc.
Investors:
Steven Wingfield, 301-564-3354
or
Media:
Paul Jacobson, 301-564-3399