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Would-be takeover of USEC probed: Congress, union leaders worried about possibility of monopoly at Paducah plant(Paducah Sun, The (KY) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Aug. 4--Key federal lawmakers worry that a proposed no-bid, $9.5 billion nuclear cleanup contract might stick taxpayers with the bill for a Utah firm's takeover of cash-needy USEC Inc. The congressmen and local nuclear workers' union leaders also are concerned that if Energy Solutions of Salt Lake City teamed with or acquired USEC, it might be able to monopolize work at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. "We have been advised that if Energy Solutions were awarded the ... contract, they would then make a tender offer for USEC stock," Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak said in a Wednesday letter to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. "After taking over USEC, Energy Solutions claims it would deploy" a new gas centrifuge plant that USEC is testing in Piketon, Ohio, to enrich uranium, they said. Dingell and Stupak wrote the letter as respective chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. Subcommittee members include Republicans Ed Whitfield of Hopkinsville and John Shimkus of Collinsville, Ill. The letter contains 10 questions and a list of demands for records about the proposed deal. No decisions reached Energy Solutions has given DOE confidential and business-sensitive materials, but the department has not awarded a contract, DOE spokeswoman Megan Barnett said. Energy Solutions spokesman Mark Walker declined comment. USEC hasn't signed any agreements or made any decisions, despite being approached by various companies to partner in cleanup work, spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said from Bethesda, Md. She said the congressmen seem mainly concerned about the contracting process for decontaminating and tearing down decades-old buildings at the Paducah plant and a closed sister plant in Piketon. USEC is about a year behind schedule and $600 million over the original budget for the new gas centrifuge plant. Although the company has talked with other firms to raise $2.3 billion for the project, no agreements have been reached, Stuckle said. The Ohio plant would replace the 1,100-employee Paducah factory starting in 2012. Growing concerns Dingell and Stupak wrote that a $9.5 billion no-bid contract "is deeply troubling" because of the number of other qualified firms that could compete. They questioned the urgency of awarding a contract while the Paducah plant remains open. "Lastly, if this sole-source ... contract were approved, would the contract price paid to Energy Solutions constitute an indirect subsidy to fund a takeover of USEC and the financing of the centrifuge plant?" the letter asked. A no-bid contract with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. in Oak Ridge, Tenn., cost the Department of Energy an extra $500 million in 2005, even though DOE told the subcommittee in 2000 that it wouldn't bail out BNFL. The Dingell-Stupak letter seeks similar assurances regarding the Energy Solutions proposal. "We are certainly concerned about a repeat performance taking place at Paducah," said Rob Ervin, president of the plant's United Steelworkers Union local. Possible monopoly Ervin said he is surprised DOE would even consider the USEC deal because it deviates from a Bush administration agenda favoring small-business cleanup work. The union is very satisfied with that arrangement, Ervin said. Energy Solutions already does the waste-management work under a subcontract with Paducah Remediation Services. It also is "embedded at Paducah" through acquisitions of cleanup firms Duratek and Parallax, Ervin said. He said Duratek is a partner with Uranium Disposition Services in a $558 million uranium-recycling project, and Duratek and Parallax team with UDS for cleanup work. If the Utah firm joined or bought USEC, it "would provide an opportunity for Energy Solutions to obtain a plant-wide monopoly at Paducah," Ervin said. To see more of The Paducah Sun, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.paducahsun.com. Copyright (c) 2007, The Paducah Sun, Ky. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |