Senate approves lifeline for American Centrifuge Project

U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) who served as a conferee on the Department of Defense (DoD) Authorization for 2013, ensured that funding for uranium enrichment research and development was authorized in the final version of the bill that passed both chambers of Congress and is set to go to the President’s desk to be signed into law. 

The American Centrifuge Project (ACP) in Piketon, Ohio is the cornerstone to fulfilling our national security requirements for a domestic source of enriched uranium. 

“I remain disappointed that the Obama Administration has yet to reveal its long-term plans for ACP, our nation’s only domestic source of enriched uranium, which is critical to our national and energy security,” Portman said.

“While we wait for the Administration to provide the certainty needed for ACP to fully develop and expand, I was able to fight for a lifeline for the project to continue. This is good news for the families of Southern Ohio set to benefit from the jobs it will provide.”

The $150 million authorization included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allows the Department of Energy (DOE) to continue its two-year American Centrifuge research, development, and demonstration program. 

This program, first proposed by DOE in October of 2011, was designed by the department to help develop U.S. enrichment technology capable of meeting vital national security, nonproliferation, and energy security needs while also enhancing taxpayer protections. 

The $350 million program will allow for the manufacturing of 78 additional centrifuges and the deployment and demonstration of a 120-machine cascade in Piketon.

To date, the Administration has not provided a plan for what will happen to ACP and the taxpayer dollars invested in the project after the conclusion of the RD&D effort.  The demonstration project alone will not meet our national security requirements.

An approval for a loan guarantee would allow for the build-out of ACP.  The full project would create 4,000 jobs in Ohio and fulfill our national security and energy security requirements for U.S.-origin enriched uranium.

Portman has been a consistent advocate for ACP and the need to develop advanced U.S. enrichment technology. 

Prior to serving as a conferee on the bill, Portman worked with his SASC colleagues to ensure the Senate version of the bill, which passed out of the Armed Services Committee in May and off the Senate floor earlier this month, contained $150 million for ACP. 

Portman has met with Energy Secretary Steven Chu on multiple occasions to press the need for DOE to move forward with a loan guarantee for ACP. 

Portman and Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) first introduced legislation to authorize the ACP RD&D program in December of 2011. 

In April of this year, Portman and Brown were successful in including $150 million in appropriations for the RD&D program in the Senate’s Fiscal Year 2013 Energy and Water appropriations bill, $100 million of which was ultimately included in Congress’ 6-month Continuing Resolution.