USEC, the uranium enrichment company, has asked the US government and the International Trade Commission to investigate allegations that European companies are flooding the US uranium market with products at below manufacturing costs. USEC, a privatised company formed from the enrichment programmes of the Department of Energy, has alleged that European companies Eurodif and Urenco are pricing enriched uranium at less than the cost of production, contrary to American and international trade law. The company suggests that its falling share of the North American market is as a result of unfair practices by their trans-Atlantic rivals. Should the US Commerce Department agree to the investigation, a preliminary decision is likely within the next few months before final deliberations are expected late in the year.
Urenco has issued a statement saying that it intends to vigorously defend itself from such allegations and that it is confident that it will be demonstrated to have competed fairly with USEC.