Tagged: USEC

The United State's Enrichment Corporation is ending uranium enrichment at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant saying that there were not enough taxpayer benefits to extend enrichment.

USEC has operated the DOE's Paducah Gaseous Diffusion plant since July 1993 and will stop enriching uranium at the end of May. USEC expects to begin reducing the plant’s workforce in the coming months. However, the corporation plans to continue managing inventory and meeting customer orders in addition to transitioning the plant back to the DOE into 2014.

The company contracted for clean-up at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant has notified employees of impending layoffs of up to 145 workers.

LATA Environmental Services of Kentucky currently employs 320 people at the Paducah site. The cuts come from the federal sequester and a lack of funding from the Department of Energy, which contracted LATA for the clean-up.

An Idaho-based company, along with Advanced Process Technology Systems of Paducah, has expressed interest in taking over operations of the U.S. Department of Energy's Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant if current lessee, the United States Enrichment Corporation, is unable to extend operations past next month.

Workers at Paducah's Gaseous Diffusion Plant will remain employed for at least the next 60 days as United States Enrichment Corporation officials continue discussions regarding future operations. USEC Spokesperson Paul Jacobson says the company has not yet decided on what kind of workforce it will leave behind. The plant currently employs around 1100 people.