Deal made for Paducah plant

Posted: Monday, May 21, 2012 9:09 pm

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant will continue operating for another year and preserve 1,200 jobs, at least temporarily, under a deal announced last week by the U.S. Department of Energy.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the beleaguered plant that was set to close later this year will enrich depleted uranium for the Tennessee Valley Authority and Energy Northwest, a utility in Washington state.
“After much hard work, the Energy Department, in cooperation with the other organizations, has identified a creative path forward to utilize a portion of our depleted uranium inventory in a way that brings together the public and private sector to advance America’s national security interests at a reduced cost to taxpayers,” Chu said in a statement.
Chu said the arrangement involves transferring a portion of the Department of Energy’s depleted uranium to Energy Northwest, which will contract with USEC Inc. to do the enrichment at Paducah and sell some of the uranium.

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