Rebuilding America’s nuclear industrial manufacturing base is a key component of USEC’s American Centrifuge project. The highly specialized U.S. manufacturing base needed to build the AC100 did not exist but is being established with USEC’s leadership. At sites across the United States, our manufacturers have been gearing up to support the fabrication of centrifuge machines and support systems.
In August 2009, DOE and USEC announced an agreement to delay a final review of USEC’s loan guarantee application for the ACP until at least early 2010. As a result, USEC significantly demobilized construction and machine manufacturing activities for the American Centrifuge project in order to preserve liquidity, which has affected the manufacturing of machine parts.
USEC is working with its strategic suppliers to maintain the manufacturing infrastructure developed over the last several years. USEC wants the project to be in a position to ramp back up rapidly in the event funding is secured from the DOE Loan Guarantee Program.
Approximately 5,000 direct and indirect jobs had been created by USEC and its suppliers building the plant. The American Centrifuge project could create nearly 8,000 jobs in the United States.
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The low enriched uranium produced by American Centrifuge Plant will fuel the clean, reliable operations of new and existing nuclear power plants for decades to come. USEC’s manufacturing contracts for the fabrication of centrifuge machines and plant components were expected to create a significant number of new, high-paying jobs in the United States.
The American Centrifuge Plant is expected to be the first new commercial nuclear build by a U.S. company in more than three decades. As the only U.S.-owned and U.S.-operated gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility, the American Centrifuge Plant is expected to play a major role in supporting America’s energy security and national security. The increased use of nuclear power would provide an effective means for America to reduce its dependence on foreign energy sources and on energy sources that emit harmful greenhouse gases.
America stands to gain significant economic benefits by investing in a reinvigorated nuclear industrial manufacturing base. More than one million jobs could be created in the United States if American companies capture a significant share of the growing global nuclear energy market, according to the American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness. USEC and its American Centrifuge manufacturers have taken the first step in this national nuclear industrial resurgence.
| Company | Scope |
|---|---|
| Hexcel | Carbon Fiber and Prepreg Tape |
| TenCate | Prepreg Tape |
| ATK | Rotor Tube |
| Babcock & Wilcox | Metal Parts |
| Northwest Pipe | Steel Tubing |
| Major Tool & Machine | Casing |
| Teledyne Brown | Service Module |
| Kerotest | Valves |
| Honeywell | Electronic Support for Process Control Systems |
| Fluor | Engineering, Procurement and Construction |