Property, Plant and Equipment

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

4. PROPERTY, PLANT AND EQUIPMENT

A summary of changes in property, plant and equipment follows (in millions):


	December 31, 2010			Capital Expenditures (Depreciation)			Transfers and Retirements			June 30, 2011
Construction work in progress	$	1,126.3		$	90.9		$	(16.7	)	$	1,200.5
Leasehold improvements		187.3			-			2.4			189.7
Machinery and equipment		269.1			0.7			0.9			270.7
		1,582.7			91.6			(13.4	)		1,660.9
Accumulated depreciation and amortization		(351.3	)		(26.7	)		3.8			(374.2	)
	$	1,231.4		$	64.9		$	(9.6	)	$	1,286.7

Capital expenditures include items in accounts payable and accrued liabilities at June 30, 2011 for which cash is paid in subsequent periods.

USEC is working to deploy the American Centrifuge technology at the American Centrifuge Plant ("ACP") in Piketon, Ohio. Capital expenditures related to the ACP, which is primarily included in the construction work in progress balance, totaled $1,213.9 million at June 30, 2011 and $1,143.8 million at December 31, 2010. Capitalized asset retirement obligations included in construction work in progress totaled $19.3 million at June 30, 2011 and $19.3 million at December 31, 2010.

During the second quarter of 2011, USEC expensed $9.6 million of previously capitalized construction work in progress costs. This expense was charged to advanced technology costs on the consolidated statement of operations and relates to a number of centrifuge machines and the related capitalized interest allocated to the centrifuge machines. The centrifuge machines expensed are no longer considered to have future economic benefit because they were irreparably damaged during lead cascade operations. There is no machine technology, machine design or machine manufacturing issue associated with this expense.

In addition, USEC is currently evaluating the ongoing utility of a number of earlier AC100 centrifuge machines that may not be compatible with the current commercial plant design that were previously capitalized as part of construction work in progress. If it is determined that these centrifuge machines have no future economic benefit, then USEC would expense up to $100 million in a subsequent quarter. USEC is evaluating several potential uses of these machines and the related economics for each scenario, such as use in the commercial plant as a production line, use of certain parts or subassemblies as operating spares, and for operator training. The evaluation of these centrifuge machines is expected to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2011.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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