NEWS RELEASE

NEI Heralds Groundbreaking for Uranium Enrichment Facility in Southeast New Mexico

LEA COUNTY, NM—Louisiana Energy Services (LES) today broke ground on the National Enrichment Facility (NEF). The facility will provide enriched uranium for the country’s 103 commercial nuclear power plants upon its scheduled opening in 2008. The following is a statement from Frank L. “Skip” Bowman, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s president and chief executive officer.

“The Nuclear Energy Institute congratulates LES and its many friends throughout New Mexico and west Texas on this historic day. Once built, the state-of-the-art enrichment facility will be a rock of economic stability for the region for decades to come.

“Just as importantly, the National Enrichment Facility will help ensure a competitive, reliable supply of low-enriched uranium for the nuclear power plants that are vital to our nation’s future energy security. It will enhance our domestic supply of fuel to generate clean, reliable, affordable electricity that our nation needs.

“With the nation’s 103 operating nuclear power plants running at 90 percent capacity and the prospect of new nuclear power plant construction moving steadily closer to reality, this new enrichment facility will add to our energy security as it increases our domestic capability to produce nuclear fuel for electricity production.”


The Nuclear Energy Institute is the nuclear energy industry’s policy organization. This news release and additional information about nuclear energy are available on NEI’s Internet site at http://www.nei.org.