For some strange reason I believe the announcements we are waiting on, i.e. Paducah and Wilmington are in some way tied to the R and D development of the ACP.
I say this because I believe the DoE want the ACP to be developed so that they can use it at the Y -12 enrichment complex, the Doe can't use the laser enrichment process because that would violate treaty agreements between Australia and the US, laser enrichment can only be used for peaceful reasons.
The Y-12 Complex is being built to replace very old technology with something that is far more efficient, the US needs this enrichment capacity for enriching uranium to HEU for use in it's submarine fleet and also for weapons development, it will also be used for a small amount of LEU which is treated to make fuel that is used to develop Tritium for it's thermo nuclear arsenal, from what I read there is already enough highly enriched Uranium to last years for this purpose, but the US want's a secure facility for future HEU enrichment, and by a method that is home grown.
So in some way I believe the DoE want GE to hold off with any announcement, at least until the R&D on the ACP is completed or just about, because in my opinion USEC could just pull the pin altogether on ACP, especially if they knew that GLE were going ahead at Wilmington? what would be the point in spending close to $5 or perhaps $6 billion dollars, just to build an American Centrifuge Plant (ACP) which would be inferior to a laser enrichment plant?
Like I said USEC could just pull the pin, but that isn't what the DoE want in my opinion, because they desperately need the ACP finished, in order for them to have a home grown enrichment method of their own to use at the Y-12 plant.
They wont come out and tell everybody what they are doing, lot's of people are confused as to why the DoE is still funding USEC in order to develop ACP, I reckon the reasons are pretty obvious?
(Reuters) - Washington's battles over government funding ended with a whimper on Thursday as the U.S. Senate approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill that quells for nearly nine months the threat of another federal agency shutdown.
The measure, which funds thousands of government programs from the military to national parks through the September 30 fiscal year-end, passed on a strong, 72-26 bipartisan vote. President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law by Saturday.
The vote came exactly three months after the end of a 16-day government shutdown in October that was waged over disputed funding of "Obamacare," the president's signature health care law.
"We're a little late, but we have gotten the job done," Senate Appropriations Committee Barbara Mikulski said on the Senate floor.
The fiscal focus in Congress now turns to debate over another boost in the $17 trillion federal debt limit. An increase could be needed in as little as six weeks.
Republicans have not said what they will demand in return for lifting the borrowing cap, but House Speaker John Boehner signaled to reporters on Thursday that he has little desire for a massive fight that threatens a damaging U.S. debt default.
The United States "shouldn't even get close to it," he told reporters, calling for quick action on a bill to increase the limit.
DEVIL IN DETAILS
The Senate accelerated its normal debate procedures to vote on the spending bill more quickly, avoiding a delayed start to a week-long holiday recess - even though most lawmakers had not read much of the 1,582-page measure.
The massive spending bill was only introduced on Monday evening, and it includes some controversial provisions that are only just now coming to light.
A taxpayer advocacy group, Taxpayers for Common Sense, described as "outrageous" a provision that would continue uranium enrichment research by USEC Inc for some $62 million this year, despite the company's announcement in December that it would file a pre-packaged bankruptcy reorganization plan.
Boehner defended the provision for the company, which was privatized in 1992 from former Department of Energy assets, including a facility in his home state of Ohio.
"There's all different types of bankruptcy proceedings. It is a uranium enrichment facility with new technology. There's been a bipartisan effort to proceed with this research that they're doing," Boehner said.
SLX Price at posting:
$2.25 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
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