Statement: Omnibus Appropriations Bill Funds Continued Demonstration Program for the American Centrifuge Technology

The FY2015 omnibus appropriations bill signed by President Obama on December 16 provides $97.2 million in funding for domestic uranium enrichment research, development and demonstration. This appropriation will fully fund the continuation of the American Centrifuge Technology Demonstration and Operations (ACTDO) agreement for the remainder of the federal government’s fiscal year through September 30, 2015. A bipartisan consensus in Congress and the administration recognized the importance of maintaining the American Centrifuge technology for national and energy security purposes. Centrus remains committed to working closely with the Department of Energy (DOE) and Congress to maintain and deploy this technology to serve national security and energy security needs.

The ACTDO agreement with UT-Battelle LLC, which operates the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for DOE, provides for continued cascade operations at Centrus’ facility in Ohio and the continuation of core American Centrifuge research and technology activities at its facilities in Tennessee.  The agreement is incrementally funded by ORNL.

As Centrus works to demonstrate and deploy the next generation of uranium enrichment technology, the Company continues to meet the needs of its customers by delivering low enriched uranium to fuel nuclear reactors around the world from existing inventory, purchases from Russia under a long term supply agreement and other potential supplies.  Under its long-term supply agreement with Russia, Centrus purchases low enriched uranium, and the current volatility of the foreign exchange rates between the ruble and the dollar have no effect on those transactions since they are denominated in dollars. The Company is not exposed to foreign exchange risk on its sales contracts.