USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) President and CEO John Welch today praised the inclusion of $150 million in President Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget proposal for a cooperative research, development and demonstration (RD&D) program to support the American Centrifuge Project, the next-generation U.S. uranium enrichment technology.

“Inclusion in the President’s budget affirms that the American Centrifuge is a national priority, and we welcome this strong signal of support,” Welch said. “The Department of Energy (DOE) first proposed the RD&D effort last year to demonstrate the technical and financial readiness of moving the American Centrifuge toward commercial deployment. Since then we have been working with Congress and DOE to put the necessary funding in place. But it’s important to remember that interim funding for this program is only available through March 2012 and we must still get RD&D funding for the remainder of government fiscal year 2012 to ensure that we can continue this vital activity.”

The RD&D program will support building, installing and operating a 120-machine cascade and related support systems that will be replicated in 96 identical cascades in a full commercial plant in Piketon, Ohio. The program will support 2,000 jobs across the country, especially in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, Michigan and Indiana. It will also preserve the U.S. government’s ability to produce enriched uranium to support U.S. national security needs.

“We will continue to work with Congress and the Department of Energy to find funding for the RD&D program for the remainder of FY 2012,” Welch added.

USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel and nuclear industry related services for commercial nuclear power plants.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains “forward-looking statements” (within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that involve risks and uncertainty. For USEC, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: risks that the RD&D funding requested in the President’s FY 2013 budget may not be approved by Congress in its proposed form or at all; the outcome of ongoing discussions with the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) regarding the RD&D program, including uncertainty regarding the timing, amount and availability of funding for such RD&D program and the dependency of government funding on Congressional appropriations and the potential for us to make a decision at any time to further reduce spending and demobilize the project based on the timing and likelihood of an agreement with DOE and any government funding; the impact of any conditions that are placed on us or on the American Centrifuge project in connection with or as a condition to the RD&D program or other funding, including a restructuring of our role and investment in the project; limitations on our ability to provide any required cost sharing under the RD&D program; the ultimate success of efforts to obtain a DOE loan guarantee and other funding needed for the American Centrifuge project, including the ability through the RD&D program or otherwise to address the concerns raised by DOE with respect to the financial and project execution depth of the project, and the timing and terms thereof; the impact of actions we have taken or may take to reduce spending on the American Centrifuge project, including the potential loss of key suppliers and employees, and impacts to cost and schedule; the impact of delays in the American Centrifuge project and uncertainty regarding our ability to remobilize the project; changes in U.S. government priorities and the availability of government funding, including loan guarantees; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which are available on our website at www.usec.com. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this annual report on Form 10-K except as required by law.