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S. R. No. 108 As Reported by the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee
As Reported by the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee
| 128th General Assembly | | Regular Session | | 2009-2010 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Niehaus, Schaffer, Gibbs, Seitz, Harris, Grendell, Miller, D., Hughes, Widener, Stewart
A RESOLUTION
| To urge the President of the United States to direct
the United States Department of Energy to ensure
the continuation of the uranium enrichment work
being developed by USEC, Inc., at its Piketon,
Ohio plant by granting USEC's application for a
federal loan guarantee and to direct the Secretary
of Energy to strongly consider providing federal
funding assistance for the Clean Energy Park
Demonstration Project.
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BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
| WHEREAS, USEC, Inc. is a global and leading supplier of
enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants; and |
| WHEREAS, USEC currently operates the American Centrifuge
Plant, a demonstration facility in Piketon, Ohio, that develops
next generation uranium enrichment technology; and |
| WHEREAS, The United States Department of Energy (USDOE)
currently is considering USEC's application for a federal loan
guarantee for its American Centrifuge Plant and an expansion of
its nuclear enrichment work there; and |
| WHEREAS, USDOE has agreed to delay a final review of USEC's
loan guarantee application for a period of at least six months to
allow USEC to meet required technical and financial milestones and
allow an independent engineer to provide technical guidance
demonstrating that the technology can be deployed at a commercial
scale; and |
| WHEREAS, USEC and the Ohio Senate believe that the
American
Centrifuge Plant project will meet the financial and
technical
requirements of the USDOE's Loan Guarantee Program as
well as
President Obama's policy objectives for energy security
and
climate change goals and that the plant, through specific
reliability tests developed during this review period, will be
able to demonstrate with confidence that it is technologically
ready to transition to commercial operation; and |
| WHEREAS, USDOE's failure to grant a loan guarantee will force
USEC, at a critical time in Ohio's economy, to demobilize its
American Centrifuge Plant uranium enrichment project jeopardizing
the expansion efforts at the Piketon plant and resulting in job
losses that will directly affect nearly 2,000 current USEC and
contractor employees in Ohio and several other states and
indirectly impact thousands more; and |
| WHEREAS, In a separate effort, USEC, the Southern Ohio
Diversification Initiative,
and power developers have joined to
form the Southern Ohio Clean
Energy Park Alliance for the purpose
of pursuing the proposed
development of a Clean Energy Park
Demonstration Project at the
USDOE site in Piketon and to support
reindustrialization and asset
reutilization as the cleanup work
at this site nears completion;
and |
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WHEREAS, The Alliance proposes to evaluate the Portsmouth
Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Piketon as a potential location
for a new nuclear power plant and include in the evaluation both a
plant siting study and the preparation of licensing documents for
submission to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission as
part of its Early Site Permit process; and |
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WHEREAS, A Generation III+ nuclear power reactor located at
this site, would create over 2,000 construction jobs with an
estimated payroll of $1.2 billion over six years and add
approximately 500 permanent professional and technical jobs to the
region without producing carbon emissions; and |
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WHEREAS, A shared funding approach between the USDOE and the
Alliance is an appropriate method of funding this multi-billion
dollar project due to possible environmental contamination at the
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site, and whereby, under this
approach, the USDOE would fund the preparation of the Early Site
Permit and the Combined Operating License Application, and then
the Alliance would fund the nuclear power plant project as it
progresses; and |
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WHEREAS, The USDOE has the authority to direct federal funds
toward projects such as the Clean Energy Park Demonstration
Project; now therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That we, the members of the Ohio Senate, urge the
President of the United States to
direct the Secretary of USDOE
to use the additional review period regarding the loan application
for careful deliberation and as an opportunity to avert the
demobilization of the American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio,
and allow the continued development of its uranium enrichment
technology by awarding USEC the federal loan guarantee for which
it applied; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That we, the members of the Ohio Senate, urge the
President of the United States to direct the Secretary of USDOE to
give strong consideration to the request made by the Southern Ohio
Clean Energy Park Alliance for federal funding assistance for the
Clean Energy Park Demonstration Project in Piketon, Ohio; and be
it further |
| RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit duly
authenticated copies of this resolution to the President of the
United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of
Energy, the members of the Ohio Congressional delegation, the
Governor of Ohio, the Board of Pike County Commissioners, and the
news media of Ohio. |
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