From 1960 to 1985, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) developed and began to deploy a centrifuge uranium enrichment technology to ultimately replace the gaseous diffusion enrichment plants in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio. This U.S. centrifuge technology used a gas centrifuge machine with a long rotor and a high rotational speed. DOE successfully demonstrated this technology for more than 1,000,000 machine hours, but terminated the project when utilities stopped investing in new nuclear power plants.

USEC commenced development work on centrifuge design and signed a DOE-approved Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with UT-Battelle for cooperative work with Oak Ridge National Lab.

USEC, UT-Battelle and DOE finalize a $121 million extension for their cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) for to deploy U.S. centrifuge technology.

USEC announced that it had begun testing key centrifuge components at facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a license that authorizes USEC to construct and operate its American Centrifuge Demonstration Facility.

USEC submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission its license application for the American Centrifuge Plant. The NRC accepted the application for detailed review that October.

USEC began testing a full-size centrifuge machine at its K-1600 facility in Oak Ridge.

The NRC issued the final Environmental Impact Statement for the American Centrifuge Plant. The NRC found that the plant would create no significant adverse environmental or socioeconomic impacts during its construction or operations.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued the final Safety Evaluation Report for the American Centrifuge Plant. The SER found that the commercial plant would create no significant adverse safety impacts during its construction or operation. It also evaluated the facility’s administrative and management programs to ensure the safe design and operation of the plant.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construction and operating license for the American Centrifuge Plant. The license, which is good for 30 years, includes authorization to enrich uranium up to an assay level of 10 percent U235.

USEC selected Babcock & Wilcox to perform manufacturing work in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for USEC’s American Centrifuge Program. B&W will manufacture components for centrifuge machines to be used in USEC’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio.

USEC entered into a three-way manufacturing supply agreement with Hexcel Corporation and with Alliant Techsystems (ATK) for carbon fiber for rotor tubes to be used in the American Centrifuge Plant. Hexcel will produce carbon fiber at its facilities in Salt Lake City, Utah, and deliver it to ATK. This fiber will be used by ATK to manufacture composite rotor tubes at its facilities in Rocket Center, West Virginia.

USEC and UT-Battelle signed an extension to the USEC-funded Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) that will continue USEC’s ability to utilize ORNL employees and resources for developing USEC’s centrifuge technology through 2012.

USEC announced that the Lead Cascade test program of the American Centrifuge technology is producing results that achieve USEC’s objectives. Data gathered from groups of Lead Cascade prototype machines operating together in a closed-loop cascade configuration were consistent with the predictions of USEC’s analytical models regarding cascade and machine performance, and the product assays generated.

USEC purchased the former Boeing site in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and renamed it the American Centrifuge Technology and Manufacturing Center. The site features 440,000 square feet of buildings, including a 200,000 square-foot building with a high bay structure specifically built in the 1980s by Boeing for manufacturing, balancing and testing centrifuge machines. Since 2007, USEC has made significant building improvements such as upgrading electrical systems and installing foundations for new production machining equipment, robotics, computer controls and testing systems to support the manufacturing ramp-up in centrifuge parts production.

USEC awarded a contract to Teledyne Brown Engineering Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., to fabricate and assemble an additional 540 gas centrifuge service modules for USEC’s American Centrifuge uranium enrichment program.

USEC completed its application to DOE for $2 billion from the loan guarantee program.

USEC announced it would moderate the growth in spending on the American Centrifuge Plant until it gained more clarity on a loan guarantee decision.

USEC completed a second design release for the AC100 series centrifuge machine.

DOE and USEC announced an agreement to defer a decision on USEC's loan guarantee application. As a result, USEC initiated steps to demobilize the American Centrifuge project until greater certainty regarding financing to finish the project could be obtained. Plant construction work was suspended and manufacturing was curtailed.

USEC reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy that provides $45 million in funding to USEC to fund on-going American Centrifuge technology demonstration and manufacturing activities, which USEC will match on a 50-50 cost-share basis. The funding supports increased operational run-time of the Lead Cascade as well as production of additional machines by USEC’s manufacturers and rotor process improvement activities in preparation for full, high-rate production.

USEC submits a comprehensive update to its DOE Loan Guarantee application for a $2 billion guarantee and announces a go-forward cost of $2.8 billion to complete the American Centrifuge Plant from the point of a closing on a DOE loan guarantee.

USEC and DOE agree on a modification to their 2002 agreement that includes milestones related to the deployment of the American Centrifuge uranium enrichment technology. In agreeing to these modifications, DOE recognizes the substantial progress that USEC has made to commercially deploy the American Centrifuge, as well as the promise of this U.S. technology and the importance of its deployment.