Uranium Enrichment Plant Headed to Ohio

Bethesda, Md.-based USEC Inc.'s American Centrifuge uranium enrichment plant will be built in Ohio. According to Ohio State Development Director Bruce Johnson, the Ohio Department of Development offered USEC $100 million in incentives for the project. The incentives include grants, a loan, a bond and tax credits and exemptions.

Once completed -- USEC anticipates the facility will be operational in 2010 -- the plant, which is expected to cost up to $1.5 billion, will employ 500 people and reach an initial production level of 3.5 million separative work units (SWU), a unit of measurement that pertains to the process of enriching uranium so it can be used as fuel for nuclear power plants.

Question: Is this one you would have gone for? Yes, the Appalachian part of Ohio needs the 500 jobs, but is there a downside here? Environmentally? Health risks?

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