www.bloomberg.com
June 30
General Electric Co., Hitachi Ltd, and Cameco Corp, plan to seek U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantees to help finance a venture that would use lasers to enrich uranium for nuclear fuel. GE Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment said today it completed an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build the world's first commercial uranium enrichment plant to use laser technology.
The proposed development in Wilmington, North Carolina, would create as many as 300 permanent engineering and support jobs, as well as employ more than 500 workers during construction, Tammy Orr, chief executive officer of Wilmington- based GE Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment, said today in a telephone interview.
"We are closely working with the government on the next round of loan guarantees and would be very interested in participating," Orr said. "We believe nuclear energy is a worthwhile energy to invest in from a stimulus perspective." She declined to disclose the project's estimated cost or the potential size of the Department of Energy guarantees. The guarantees allow energy-project developers to borrow at lower rates than they could without the government's backing, according to the Web site of the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry trade group.
GE Energy, of which the nuclear venture is a part, provided $29.31 billion of the parent company's $183 billion in sales last year. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based parent company doesn't disclose sales figures for the GE-Hitachi venture. GE Energy is the world's biggest maker of power-plant turbines. GE fell 4 cents to $11.72 at 6:40 p.m, in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have fallen 28% this year.
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