Ohio uranium plant financing nixed

Published: July 28, 2009 at 4:12 PM

A planned Ohio uranium enrichment plant seems doomed after U.S. officials refused to grant it a $2 billion loan guarantee, officials say.

The decision by the U.S. Department of Energy to refuse the loan guarantee to the proposed USEC Inc. facility in Piketon, Ohio, means the effort has begun to "demobilize," a company spokeswoman told Tuesday's Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch.

USEC was seeking the loan to help it build a $3.5 billion advanced technology uranium plant on the same site where the company ran a Cold War-era enrichment facility until it was closed in 2001, the newspaper said.

The Dispatch, citing two unnamed sources, reported that Ohio officials have been given the news by the U.S. Energy Department, which reportedly turned down the request for a variety of reasons. The company was invited to reapply in 18 months, but one of the sources said that kind of delay would mean "financial death" for the effort.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/07/28/Ohio-uranium-plant-financing-nixed/UPI-68921248811941/