大胆であるがゆえに、あちこちで紛争になっています。
米国： ＵＳＥＣ社のウラン濃縮工場建設計画がキャンセル騒ぎ
米は、消費電力の少ない遠心分離型ウラン濃縮を拡大するため、ＵＳＥＣ社がオハイオ州パイクトンにAC100型遠心分離機(ACP)の工場新設を計画していましたが、ＤＯＥが同社の債務保証申請を却下したため、計画がキャンセルされそうで大騒ぎになっています。地元議員らもカンカンで、とりあえずは６ヶ月間判断延期になったようです。新エネ重視、原発無視のチュー長官の舵取りが注目されます。
ＵＳＥＣ社のＡＣＰ計画は、１９７０～８０年代からＤＯＥと協力して進められてきたもので、ブッシュ政権時代には原子力規制委員会ＮＲＣも建設・運転許可を出していました。当初計画では2010年に商業運転開始(フル稼働で250万ＳＷＵ）を予定していましたが、財政面での不安もあり、2008年に、連邦政府による債務保証(２０億ドル分）を申請していました。同社はすでに１５億ドルつぎ込んでいるとのこと。
原子力関係者によると「オバマ政権は、ヤッカマウンテン計画廃棄に続いて、ＡＣＰ計画にも否定的な態度を示し、米国の「原子力ルネサンス」にまた１つ黄信号が灯った」との評価です。なお、ＧＥ－日立は米国でレーザー法による濃縮工場建設計画の許可申請を行なっています。
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/28/AR2009072802617.html
USEC Denied Loan Guarantees
CEO Assails Obama After Energy Dept. Says Project Is Unready
By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Bethesda-based USEC on Tuesday accused President Obama of reneging on a campaign pledge after the Energy Department turned down the company's request for $2 billion in loan guarantees for a new uranium enrichment project in Piketon, Ohio.
USEC, which operates the nation's only uranium enrichment facility, said it would "demobilize" the new project, which it said could not obtain private financing without the federal loan guarantee. The company has already spent $1.5 billion on what it calls the American Centrifuge Plant, but USEC says the final price tag could reach $3.5 billion, 1 1/2 times as much as it estimated two years ago.
"We are shocked and disappointed by DOE's decision," USEC chief executive John K. Welch said in a statement. "President Obama promised to support the loan guarantee for the American Centrifuge Plant while he campaigned in Ohio. We are disappointed that campaign commitment has not been met."
The company's stock yesterday plunged $2.14, or 35 percent, to $4.05 a share, erasing $240 million of market value.
The Energy Department said that the proposed plant, which would use a series of giant centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear power plants, was not ready for commercial production and therefore ineligible for the loan guarantees. The department said that if USEC withdraws its application, it will receive $45 million over the next 18 months to conduct further research.
In a nod to the state, however, the Energy Department said it would expand cleanup efforts at the now-closed Portsmouth enrichment site in Piketon. It said it would spend $118 million of stimulus funds and an additional $150 million to $200 million a year on decontamination over the next four years. The department said that would create over 1,000 jobs, more than twice as many as would be lost at USEC's centrifuge project. The announcement brings total spending on the Portsmouth cleanup to $850 million over the next two years.