re USU:
(DOW JONES) DJN: DJ US DOE: Rejects $9.5 Billion Nuclear Decommissioning Prop
sal
DJN: DJ US DOE: Rejects $9.5 Billion Nuclear Decommissioning Proposal
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. Department of Energy in August rejected a
$9.5 billion proposed contract for decommissioning uranium enrichment
plants, the DOE said Tuesday.
Federal lawmakers said Tuesday they had been concerned the contract may have
violated the Competition in Contracting Act and that government payments
possibly would have subsidized the privately owned company Energy
Solutions's acquisition of USEC Inc (USU). The proposal had called for
Energy Solutions to acquire USEC and invest in USEC's American Centrifuge
Project, as part of the companies' plan to decommission DOE's Portsmouth,
Ohio, and Paducah, Ky., uranium enrichment plants.
House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., commended the DOE
"for scrubbing and ultimately rejecting a proposal which is so plainly at
odds with the public interest."
Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., said it is imperative that the DOE "protect
taxpayer interests by soliciting bids from a wide array of qualified firms
using full and open competition."
The lawmakers said that while they were still concerned, however, "the DOE
has not indicated whether it is committed to full and open competition."
In a response letter to the lawmakers, the DOE said it "is in the process of
formulating an acquisition strategy for the D&D (decontamination and
decommissioning) of the Portsmouth and Paducah plant sites."
According to DOE documents obtained by the lawmakers, DOE lawyers raised 30
issues of concern about the proposal.
Following DOE notification in August, USEC sought financing through a public
stock and debt offering.
-By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires, 202-862-9285; ian.talley@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 02, 2007 10:57 ET (14:57 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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