USEC Inc. / USU
American Centrifuge machines operating in the Lead Cascade test program at USEC’s Piketon, Ohio, demonstration facility. (Photo: Courtesy of company.)
About USEC Inc.
6903 Rockledge Dr., Bethesda, Md. 20817
www.usec.com
| 301-564-3200
| Founded: 1998
Industry: Energy | Category: Top 100 Companies
USEC named a new chief executive in September. Former General Dynamics executive John K. Welch took over the position from Chairman James R. Mellor, who had been doing both jobs since William H. Timbers left in December 2004.
USEC cut its headquarters staff of 132 by a third in September and later reduced its workforce in Kentucky and Ohio by 136 employees.
At the Ohio plant, the company encountered delays related to the quality of material, the performance of equipment and "compliance with recently issued regulatory requirements," the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. USEC slowed its timetable for completion of the plant.
A federal licensing board ruled against two opponents trying to participate in the hearing process for the Ohio plant's license application. The critics have appealed.
Meanwhile, a federal appeals court issued an order that could make it harder for USEC to compete with foreign suppliers of enriched uranium. The court reaffirmed a ruling that could prevent the federal government from imposing anti-dumping sanctions on reactor fuel subsidized by a foreign government and sold in the United States. At issue in the case were duties the Commerce Department imposed in 2002 on enriched uranium imported from France. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reaffirmed a March 2005 ruling that enrichment contracts should be treated as sales of services, not goods, thus placing them beyond the reach of certain trade laws.
In August, USEC completed its second accounting restatement in several months, in part correcting errors in the earlier restatement. USEC said that, as of Sept. 30, it had fixed weaknesses in its internal controls.
The company settled a dispute with former chief executive Timbers over his departure. The company maintained he was terminated for cause, but Timbers alleged the company terminated him without cause, and he sought damages of more than $36 million. Under the settlement, USEC agreed to pay Timbers $14.5 million in cash and to forgive a loan to Timbers of about $300,000.
Chairman: James R. Mellor
Chairman: James R. Mellor
2007 Financial Data
Total employees: 2,762 | Local employees: 90Company Leadership
| James R. Mellor | Chairman, Former President and CEO |
| Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty | Former EVP and COO |
| Ellen C. Wolf | Former CFO |
| Philip G. Sewell | SVP |
| Robert Van Namen | SVP |
| John K. Welch | President and CEO |
| W. Lance Wright | SVP, human resources and administration |
Source: Compensation data provided by Equilar, Inc..
|
John K. Welch President and Chief Executive Officer |
$3,746,748 Salary: $828,462 |
Did You Know
USEC, which was privatized by the U.S. government in the 1990s, enriches uranium for use in nuclear power plants. As the government's agent in the "Megatons to Megawatts" program, USEC recycles uranium from Russian nuclear warheads to produce electricity. The company runs an enrichment facility in Kentucky and is developing a plant in Ohio that is intended to use more efficient technology.
