Project earns strong support from nuclear community
– By Mark McFadden –
USEC today announced that it has customer commitments to purchase more than half of the planned, initial sales of the American Centrifuge Plant. The commitments, valued at $3.3 billion, are from 10 customers including leading utilities in the United States, Europe and Asia. The commitments represent both accepted offers and signed contracts for a substantial portion of the plant’s output and are of varying length extending as far as 2026.
“This strong support from our customers speaks volumes about our progress on the American Centrifuge Plant,” said John K. Welch, USEC president and chief executive officer to Nuclear Street. “Clearly, the American Centrifuge Plant will be an important component of the nation’s energy security, and the thousands of new jobs we are creating can provide an impetus to America’s economic recovery.”
“We have confidence in the American Centrifuge technology, and we believe it will be an important player in the future of uranium enrichment,” said Christopher M. Crane, president and chief operating officer of Exelon Corporation, the largest operator of nuclear reactors in the United States and USEC’s largest customer.
The American Centrifuge Plant, currently under construction in Piketon, Ohio, represents the early commercial use of a new centrifuge technology, and it significantly reduces emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases. USEC has invested over $1.2 billion in the plant, including hundreds of millions of dollars to help rebuild portions of America’s nuclear industrial manufacturing base. The project is expected to create nearly 8,000 new jobs as manufacturers add new employees across the United States.
USEC is deploying the American Centrifuge technology to provide the dependable, long-term nuclear fuel production capability needed to support the world’s nuclear power plants. The American Centrifuge technology is based on U.S. gas centrifuge technology originally developed by the U.S. Department of Energy but with significant design, material and manufacturing improvements incorporated by USEC. As America’s only commercial uranium enrichment facility using U.S. centrifuge technology, it will play an important role in America’s energy security and national security.
“Customers from Asia, Europe and the United States have voiced their support of the American Centrifuge Plant, and we look forward to providing them with the quality service and reliable supply of fuel they have come to expect from USEC,” said John M. A. Donelson, USEC vice president for marketing and sales.
Ichiro Takekuro, executive vice president and chief nuclear officer at Tokyo Electric Power Company, the largest operator of nuclear reactors in Japan, said, “Globally, diversity of supply of enriched uranium is critical to ensuring the nuclear industry can provide customers with clean, safe energy for decades to come. The American Centrifuge Plant will help the nuclear field achieve that goal.”
USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.