Cold War Veterans Blog

Vestiges of The Cold War Now Fuel American Power Plants

Cold War Weapons Fuel Clean Energy for America

--Megatons to Megawatts Program Fuels Nuclear Power Plants across America--

BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Megatons to Megawatts program has eliminated the equivalent of 12,000 nuclear warheads, USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU - News) announced today.To date, 300 metric tons (MT) of highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Russian nuclear warheads have been downblended to low enriched uranium (LEU) as part of this vital energy and nonproliferation program. America's commercial nuclear reactors use this LEU to generate about 10 percent of the country's electricity. The program is now 60 percent complete.

USEC, as executive agent for the U.S. government, implements the 20-year agreement with its Russian partner at no cost to U.S. taxpayers. By the program's completion in 2013, 500 MT of HEU, the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads, will be downblended into LEU.

Through 2006, USEC has paid more than $4.6 billion to Russia. With annual purchases of more than $500 million, USEC expects to pay Russia more than the $7.6 billion in revenue guaranteed under the contract by the end of 2013. The price USEC pays Russia is set by a market-based pricing formula and will rise over the next several years since market prices have increased in recent years. Read Article