Patriotism, it’s said, is the last refuge of a scoundrel. A worthy example now making its way into the national spotlight is the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), which is making strained national security arguments on Capitol Hill to pave the way for a $2 billion federal bailout. If USEC had a sound product or argument, this subsidy might be defensible. USEC has neither.
The corporation currently manages a dated, uneconomical, gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment plant in Kentucky, which the U.S. government sold it back in the early 1990s. To upgrade its enrichment services, USEC is trying field a new system known as the American Centrifuge Project in Piketon, Ohio. This project employs a design originally developed but never fielded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
