With USEC Inc. immersed in bankruptcy proceedings and running out of government funding, the Department of Energy apparently will take over management of the American Centrifuge Project later this month and maintain the uranium-enrichment technology for national security purposes. Oak Ridge National Laboratory is reportedly going to assume DOE’s management role, possibly subcontracting the work to USEC.

Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz unveiled the DOE plan during a Wednesday hearing of the House Appropriations energy and water subcommittee. DOE, under a cost-sharing agreement, has been providing millions of dollars to the American Centrifuge Project’s Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) program, but that’s scheduled to expire on April 15. More than $56 million in additional funding for the project this year has been proposed, but it will require additional approval from Congress.

“Our current plan, and this is understood, is that the responsibility for managing it will novate to Oak Ridge, which is where the technology originates,” Moniz told the subcommittee, according to a report this morning by ExchangeMonitor Publications, which covered Wednesday’s hearing. “I think it is quite reasonable to speculate that of course the skilled workforce (assembled for the centrifuge project) working on those machines would then have to be kept one way or another . . .”

The centrifuge technology for enriching uranium — concentrating the fissionable U-235 for use as nuclear reactor fuel or material for nuclear weapons — was developed by the Department of Energy, with much of the work taking place in Oak Ridge during the 1970s. DOE’s Oak Ridge office formerly managed the nation’s uranium-enrichment program, but that work was turned over to USEC Inc., which was created as a government corporation in the early 1990s to run the gaseous diffusion plants at Paducah, Ky., and Portsmouth, Ohio, and also look at more energy-efficient ways — including advanced centrifuge technology — to produce the uranium fuel for nuclear activities.

The centrifuge demonstration project is taking place at Piketon, Ohio, where USEC also had planned to operate a commercial facility that would use centrifuges to separate the isotopes of uranium and produce the base product for nuclear fuel. The company had been seeking billions of dollars in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy, but DOE had postponed a decision until the technology was better established. Additionally, USEC’s plans for deploying the technology were basically put on hold in the past couple of years because of the declining demand for nuclear fuel due to the shutdown of reactors in Japan, etc.

While the production center for the American Centrifuge Project was in Ohio, much of the research on the project was taking place in Oak Ridge — with ORNL as a partner — and Oak Ridge also was the manufacturing hub for the project.

About 300 people are working at the manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, which was a joint effort by USEC and Babcock & Wilcox.

According to Paul Jacobson, communications chief for USEC, the Oak Ridge operations are continuing while the future is being studied.

Jacobson said USEC stands ready to work with ORNL to ensure the nation maintains a domestic capability for enriching uranium.

In a statement released by the company, USEC said, “USEC is pleased that Secretary Moniz has again confirmed the importance of maintaining a domestic uranium enrichment technology to support national security objectives. We appreciate his recognition of the success of the American Centrifuge research, development and demonstration program that achieved all of its technical milestones on time and within budget. We believe the RD&D program firmly established the American Centrifuge technology’s readiness for deployment and its capability to meet national security objectives.

“Oak Ridge National Laboratory has a strong record of executing important Department of Energy programs, and has played an important role in the American Centrifuge project. ORNL is well positioned to support DOE’s program to ensure our nation maintains a domestic enrichment capability. As Secretary Moniz recognized, USEC has a skilled workforce and important experience that can assist ORNL in these efforts. In particular, USEC has personnel with unique technical, manufacturing, operations, design and construction capabilities that have demonstrated their expertise by successfully implementing the RD&D program over the past two years. USEC stands ready to support ORNL in carrying out DOE’s program to meet national security requirements, as requested.

“USEC is continuing its constructive dialogue with DOE and ORNL regarding the scope of the program and the company’s role in that program. In his testimony, Secretary Moniz stressed the importance of keeping the program going and the importance of putting the funding in place for the rest of the government fiscal year. The company agrees and believes that it is imperative that sufficient funds be available to ensure that the United States retains the capability to meet its national security needs.”

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