Meanwhile, USEC has claimed that it continues to make progress in its plan to deploy an advanced uranium enrichment technology. A review is underway and the results are expected in the second quarter of 2008.
USEC is in the midst of a review and update to its 2007 project cost estimate and expects to announce a project budget in the second quarter of 2008.
Currently, the firm expects that the project budget for the plant will be about $3.5 billion, which includes $615 million spent through December 31, 2007, but does not include costs for financing or financial assurance.
John Welch, USEC’s president and CEO, said: USEC underestimated the cost and the time it is taking to re-establish the supply chain infrastructure and the skilled labor needed to build the American Centrifuge. And while some of the higher costs are project specific, particularly skilled labor, we are also experiencing upward pressure embedded in the costs of commodities and basic materials, like steel and aluminum.
