Construction Activities at the American Centrifuge Plant

In August 2009, USEC began a demobilization of the American Centrifuge project due to a delay in the Department of Energy’s review of the company’s application for a loan guarantee from to help finance the completion of the plant. It is expected to take six months or more for USEC to address financial and technical concerns about its application. Construction work on the plant infrastructure and finalizing the balance-of-plant design ceased in August. The plant design work, which is about 80 percent complete, would be resumed following a decision to remobilize the project. Machine part manufacturing efforts have also been affected.

Construction progress to this point has included:

Building out the balance of plant, including electric, telecommunications, HVAC and water distribution
Preparing the production building floor for machine mounts to support the centrifuges
Installing a new boiler building and associated hot water piping to provide heat to the American Centrifuge Plant
Renovating the feed and withdrawal facility where uranium is introduced into plant systems and low enriched uranium is withdrawn
Installation of service modules that provide utilities to the centrifuge machines and the piping that enables UF6 gas to flow throughout the enrichment production facility.

Boiler Building

In March 2008, the first of three concrete pours occurred for the foundation of the new Boiler Building at the plant.

Steel structure for the boiler building being erected in May 2008

This building is one of the new buildings to be constructed on site at Piketon to support the American Centrifuge Plant. The building will house three RHW (Recirculating Heating Water) boilers to provide heating water for process needs and for building heat to centrifuge plant facilities.

Structural steel is being erected in the American Centrifuge Plant's Boiler Building to support Recirculating Heating Water Piping to and from the boilers.

Recirculating Heating Water Piping is being installed adjacent to the American Centrifuge Plant's Boiler Building. This piping will transport heating water, used for process and building heating, to and from the Boiler Building and the Centrifuge Plant.

An aerial view of the construction of the American Centrifuge Plant's Boiler Building in July 2008.

The American Centrifuge Plant's Boiler Building in October 2008.

Feed and Withdrawal Facility

As part of the plant construction, the Feed and Withdrawal Facility is being completely refurbished to accommodate the systems and processes required to safely and efficiently support the plant operation.

New process designs are being incorporated into the existing facility to meet performance based requirements that did not exist when the facility was originally designed and constructed.