2008 Annual Report USEC Board of Directors
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Energy Security Delivered by USEC 2008 Annual Report USEC Board of Directors James R. Mellor(4) John R. Hall(2,3) Committees: Chairman of the Board, Retired Chairman and 1. Audit and Finance Corporate Profile 2. Compensation USEC Inc. Chief Executive Officer, 3. Nominating and Governance Retired Chairman and Ashland, Inc. 4. Regulatory and Government USEC Inc. (NYSE:USU), a global energy company, is a leading supplier of Chief Executive Officer, Affairs Dr. William J. Madia(4,5) General Dynamics Corporation 5. Technology and Competition enriched uranium fuel. Uranium enrichment is a key step in the produc- Vice President, (1,3) tion of nuclear fuel used by commercial nuclear plants around the world Dr. Michael H. Armacost Stanford University Walter H. Shorenstein Retired Executive Vice President, to generate clean, low-cost electricity. USEC revenue in 2008 totaled Distinguished Fellow and Battelle Memorial Institute Visiting Professor, $1.6 billion, which included approximately one-quarter from international W. Henson Moore(1,4) Stanford University Retired President and sales. Through its subsidiary, the United States Enrichment Corporation, Dr. Joyce F. Brown(2,3) Chief Executive Officer, USEC operates the only uranium enrichment facility in the United States. President, American Forest and Paper Fashion Institute of Technology Association The Company is building the American Centrifuge Plant, a highly efficient of the State University of Joseph F. Paquette, Jr.(1,5) New York uranium enrichment facility in Piketon, Ohio, that will support the nuclear Retired Chairman and industry’s growth. Through its NAC subsidiary, USEC is a leading supplier Joseph T. Doyle(1,2) Chief Executive Officer, Certified Public Accountant PECO Energy Company of nuclear energy services and technologies. and Consultant John K. Welch H. William Habermeyer(2,5) President and Retired President and Chief Executive Officer, Chief Executive Officer, USEC Inc. Progress Energy Florida Made in the U.S.A. The American Centrifuge project proudly wears the “Made in America” label as key components of our cutting-edge technology are manufactured in the United States. With USEC’s leadership, the nuclear industrial manufacturing base is being re-established in America to provide an assurance of energy securityADE through nuclear power. M I N A M E R I C A (Standing from left to right) Henson Moore, William Habermeyer, John Welch, Joseph Paquette, Michael Armacost, Joseph Doyle. (Seated from left) William Madia, Joyce Brown, James Mellor and John Hall. ABOut THE COVER: Employees from USEC and Honeywell Technology Solutions work together to assemble AC100 series centrifuge machines at the American Centrifuge Plant. Designed by Curran & Connors, Inc. www.curran-connors.com Energy Security...Delivered by USEC Page 1 Financial Highlights Years ended December 31 (dollar amounts in millions, except per share data) 2008 2007 2006 Revenue $ 1,614.6 $ 1,928.0 $ 1,848.6 Gross profit 228.8 287.5 336.9 Advanced technology costs 110.2 127.3 105.5 Selling, general and administrative 54.3 45.3 48.8 Net income 48.7 96.6 106.2 Net income per share—basic $ .44 $ 1.04 $ 1.22 Net income per share—diluted $ .35 $ .94 $ 1.22 Gross profit margin 14.2% 14.9% 18.2% Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (104.9) 109.2 278.1 Debt to total capitalization at year end 37% 36% 13% Revenues Cumulative Spending Net Income Revenues Cumulative Net Income on ACP ($ in millions) ($ in millions) Expenditures on ACP ($ in millions) ($ in millions) $1,928 2000 1500 120 $1,849 $106.2 $1,211 $96.6 $1,615 100 1200 1500 80 900 1000 60 $640 $48.7 600 40 $373 500 300 20 0 0 0 ’08 ’07 ’06 ’08 ’07 ’06 ’08 ’07 ’06 I DE N A M A C A I M E R USEC 2008 Annual Report Page 2 Dear Fellow Shareholders 2008 was a productive year for USEC as our effort to straits of our economy, creating these skilled jobs build the American Centrifuge Plant began showing can also play a role in improving communities in a solid results. As you may recall, we started building dozen states. This is a project that is focused on the plant in Piketon, Ohio, in May 2007 after the U.S. meeting America’s energy, environmental and eco- Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a construc- nomic needs. tion and operating license to USEC. But the plant is We have many achievements to show for our much more than just concrete and steel. We are efforts in 2008. We logged tens of thousands of leading a historic renewal of the uranium enrichment hours operating the American Centrifuge machines industrial base in the United States for nuclear fuel, involved in our Lead Cascade test program. We and if needed, national security purposes. We are released the initial design for the AC100, the name re-establishing a manufacturing infrastructure that lay we have given our series of commercial centrifuge dormant for two decades to provide a competitive machines, and worked closely with our strategic U.S.-owned source of nuclear fuel for America’s 104 suppliers to transfer the technology to their manu- power reactors, as well as the reactors for many cus- facturing facilities. They have begun production of tomers around the world. machine components. Looking ahead, we are value While we are leading this effort, several other engineering the AC100 to reduce its manufacturing major U.S. corporations equally committed to cost while continuing research and development rebuilding our nation’s nuclear power manufacturing efforts. These efforts may well lead to an even more base have joined us. Together with these strategic productive centrifuge design that can be integrated suppliers, we can create approximately 8,000 direct into the American Centrifuge Plant as we deploy and indirect jobs around the country. Given the dire machines over the next several years. We are re-establishing a manufacturing infrastructure that lay dormant for two decades to provide a U.S.-owned source of nuclear fuel for America’s 104 power reactors… Energy Security...Delivered by USEC Page 3 The successful deployment of the American dozen reactors are already under construction world- Centrifuge technology has been a key focus, but not wide, and plans are well along for another 100 reac- our only one. Our Paducah employees produced the tors to begin construction. This provides a great highest amount of enrichment at the plant in 14 years potential market for the low enriched uranium while working at one of their best safety records ever. needed to fuel these and the 440 existing reactors. In January, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unani- We are meeting with customers regarding long-term mously in our favor in a long-standing trade case contracts for the output of the American Centrifuge that should ensure a level playing field with our Plant and expect to have much of the plant’s capac- foreign-owned and controlled competitors and an ity obligated for its first decade of operation later orderly transition to a robust and competitive nuclear this year. fuel market. We earned $49 million of net income An organization’s backbone is its people, and despite a run-up in prices paid for our two largest we have outstanding employees working diligently cost factors: electric power and purchases from Rus- to execute the plans we have laid out to build our sia. Despite these accomplishments, we ended the business. Our people testing the American Centri- year with one important disappointment: the Bush fuge technology in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and build- administration’s Department of Energy did not take ing parts there at the Technology & Manufacturing action to select any advanced energy projects for Center are putting in long hours. The staff in Piketon, funding under its Loan Guarantee Program. That Ohio, is eager to begin installing and operating the remains one of our top priorities as we enter 2009. centrifuge machines in the commercial plant. Our The uncertainty surrounding project funding has employees in Paducah, Kentucky, continue to get forced us to begin taking steps to moderate our top performance out of the 50-year-old gaseous pace of spending on the American Centrifuge Plant. diffusion plant. Other employees are supplying high This was not a step taken lightly because it will likely quality government contract services or providing increase the cost of the plant and delay the deploy- used uranium fuel storage technology for our utility ment of the centrifuge machines. Nonetheless, if the customers. Together, the 3,000 employees of USEC, project is not selected by DOE in the near future or many of whom are shareholders, are pulling together we determine funding will not be available in the to build long-term value. timeframe we need, we will need to take additional steps to reduce spending on the project. As we write Sincerely, this letter, we are seeing positive signs from the Obama administration that the Loan Guarantee Program, with its potential to create thousands of jobs as we revitalize the U.S. nuclear power industry, James R. Mellor will be an emphasis for DOE. We look forward to Chairman of the Board working with the new administration to accelerate approval for projects to be funded by the Loan Guarantee Program. The market for our product continues to improve. During the past two years, U.S. utilities applied for John K. Welch President and Chief Executive Officer construction and operating licenses for 26 new power reactors in the United States. More than three March 2, 2009 I DE N A M A C A I M E R USEC 2008 Annual Report Page 4 AmericAn centrifuge The American Centrifuge technology uses 95% less electricity to enrich uranium, reducing both costs and our carbon footprint.