Delay of loan guarantee causes potential layoffs for Piketon
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U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) today issued the following statement on USEC’s announcement to issue 60-day WARN notices to 250 employees in Southern Ohio and to begin demobilizing the American Centrifuge Project (ACP) due to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) lack of a conditional commitment on its loan guarantee application:
“I’m disappointed that the Department of Energy’s inaction has led to potential layoffs in Piketon. Three years after President Obama promised hope, the workers are receiving WARN notices instead. I’ve been a strong advocate for ACP’s loan guarantee due to the energy security and national security aspects it provides, and the 4,000 jobs it would add to Southern Ohio, an area with employment rates as high as 15 percent.
“USEC and its strategic partners, Babcock & Wilcox and Toshiba, have gone through round after round of review, answering the questions asked of them by the Office of Management and Budget, DOE, and outside analysts. They have answered requests from DOE including: shoring up additional private investment, improving the management of the project, and demonstrating the reliability of the technology through additional run time. Yet the administration has continued to drag its feet on this pro-growth, pro-national security project for over three years, despite President Obama’s campaign promise that he would get it done.
“It should not have come to this. These workers have waited long enough. I hope that the Obama Administration will realize the impact demobilization will have on Southern Ohio and on our national security and energy security needs and find a path to move forward with a conditional commitment as soon as possible.”[[In-content Ad]]
“I’m disappointed that the Department of Energy’s inaction has led to potential layoffs in Piketon. Three years after President Obama promised hope, the workers are receiving WARN notices instead. I’ve been a strong advocate for ACP’s loan guarantee due to the energy security and national security aspects it provides, and the 4,000 jobs it would add to Southern Ohio, an area with employment rates as high as 15 percent.
“USEC and its strategic partners, Babcock & Wilcox and Toshiba, have gone through round after round of review, answering the questions asked of them by the Office of Management and Budget, DOE, and outside analysts. They have answered requests from DOE including: shoring up additional private investment, improving the management of the project, and demonstrating the reliability of the technology through additional run time. Yet the administration has continued to drag its feet on this pro-growth, pro-national security project for over three years, despite President Obama’s campaign promise that he would get it done.
“It should not have come to this. These workers have waited long enough. I hope that the Obama Administration will realize the impact demobilization will have on Southern Ohio and on our national security and energy security needs and find a path to move forward with a conditional commitment as soon as possible.”[[In-content Ad]]