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Transition Charges | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2013
Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract] |
Transition Charges | 3. TRANSITION CHARGES Non-Production Expenses Related to Ceasing Enrichment at the Paducah Plant On May 24, 2013, USEC announced that it was not able to conclude a deal for the short-term extension of uranium enrichment at the Paducah GDP and began ceasing uranium enrichment at the end of May 2013. USEC is in discussions with the U.S. Department of Energy ("DOE") regarding the timing of USEC’s de-lease of the Paducah GDP from DOE and is seeking to minimize its transition costs related to lease turnover, which could be substantial. Under the terms of the lease, USEC can terminate the lease prior to June 2016 upon two years' notice. Also, as USEC's needs change, USEC can de-lease portions of the property under lease upon 60 days' notice with DOE's consent, which cannot be unreasonably withheld. On August 1, 2013, USEC provided notice to DOE that USEC exercised its rights to terminate the lease with respect to the Paducah GDP. USEC anticipates being able to complete the return of leased premises and terminate the Paducah GDP lease as early as July 2014. In the event that USEC is unable to agree on a schedule for termination prior to two years, USEC plans to retain a small portion of the leased premises until August 1, 2015 at which time the Paducah GDP lease will terminate and any remaining portion of the leased premises will be returned to DOE. In such an event, during this period USEC plans to return portions of the leased premises no longer required to meet its business needs. However, limitations on available funding to DOE in light of federal budget constraints and spending cuts could limit DOE's willingness to accept the return of areas that USEC wishes to de-lease on a timely basis. Disputes could also arise regarding the requirements of the lease and responsibility for associated turnover costs. The Paducah GDP has operated for more than 60 years. Environmental liabilities associated with plant operations by agencies of the U.S. government prior to USEC's privatization on July 28, 1998 are the responsibility of the U.S. government. The USEC Privatization Act and the lease for the plant provide that DOE remains responsible for decontamination and decommissioning of the Paducah site. USEC accelerated the expected productive life of plant assets in recent months and began to cease enrichment at the Paducah GDP following completion of the one-year depleted uranium enrichment program in May 2013. USEC has incurred a number of expenses unrelated to current production that have been charged directly to cost of sales. Non-production expenses in the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 and June 30, 2012 include the following:
- | Asset retirement charges of $19.3 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 for property, plant and equipment formerly used in the enrichment process at the Paducah GDP;
- | Inventory valuation adjustments totaling $10.0 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2013, including $7.7 million of residual uranium contained in certain cylinders that will be transferred to DOE. USEC determined that it was currently uneconomic to recover this residual uranium for resale;
- | Site expenses, including lease turnover activities, of $20.1 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2013. Following the cessation of enrichment at the Paducah GDP, costs for plant activities that formerly were capitalized as production costs will now be charged directly to cost of sales including inventory management and disposition, ongoing regulatory compliance, utility requirements for operations, security, and other site management activities related to transition of facilities and infrastructure;
- | Power contract losses of $11.8 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2013. In anticipation of a potential short-term extension of uranium enrichment at the Paducah GDP, USEC purchased approximately 700 megawatts of power for the period from June 1 through September 30, 2013 from several power providers. Due to falling prices in power markets following the purchase of this power, as part of agreements to unwind these purchases, USEC incurred expenses of approximately $11.8 million;
- | Accelerated asset charges of $8.2 million in the six months ended June 30, 2013. Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2012, the expected productive life of property, plant and equipment at the Paducah GDP was reduced from the lease term ending June 2016 to an accelerated basis ending December 2014. In addition, costs that would have been previously treated as construction work in progress are treated similar to maintenance and repair costs because of the shorter expected productive life of the Paducah GDP. The expected productive life of the Paducah GDP was further reduced following the ceasing of enrichment in June 2013;
- | Portsmouth retiree benefit costs of $6.3 million in the six months ended June 30, 2013 and $6.6 million in the six months ended June 30, 2012. Prior to the start of 2012, a significant portion of the costs related to pension and postretirement health and life benefit plans were attributed to Portsmouth contract services, based on the employee base performing contract services work. Starting in 2012, ongoing retiree benefit costs related to USEC's former Portsmouth employees are charged to cost of sales of the low enriched uranium ("LEU") segment rather than the contract services segment based on continuing operations that support USEC's active and retired employees.
USEC may incur additional non-production expense and special charges in future periods based on the results of transition planning and assessments of evolving business needs. Special Charges for Workforce Reductions and Advisory Costs On May 31, 2013, USEC notified its Paducah employees of potential layoffs beginning in August 2013. The notifications were provided under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act), a federal statute that requires an employer to provide advance notice to its employees of potential layoffs in certain circumstances. USEC expects that an initial workforce reduction of approximately 160 employees will be substantially completed by August 19, 2013. USEC currently estimates that it could incur employee related severance costs of approximately $2.1 million to $7.5 million for the expected initial layoff in August depending on the seniority of the workers and final number of employees severed. As such, USEC accrued a special charge associated with the workforce reduction of approximately 160 employees of $2.1 million in the three months ended June 30, 2013 for estimated one-time termination benefits consisting of severance payments. Related cash expenditures are expected primarily in the third quarter of 2013. Additional layoffs may occur in stages during 2013 and/or 2014 depending on business needs to manage inventory, fulfill customer orders, meet regulatory requirements and transition the site back to DOE in a safe and orderly manner. Information on these additional layoffs would be communicated to affected employees in future notices and may result in additional charges. USEC currently estimates that it could incur total employee related severance costs of approximately $25 million to $30 million for all Paducah GDP workers (including the $2.1 million special charge for the 160 employees described above) in the event of a full termination of activities at the site without a transfer of employees to another employer, depending on the timing of severances, if incurred, and with DOE owing a portion of this amount estimated to be up to $6 million. Actions taken in the prior year resulted in special charges of $1.7 million and $3.6 million in the three and six months ended June 30, 2012, respectively, for one-time termination benefits for affected employees at our American Centrifuge design and engineering operations in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and our headquarters operations located in Bethesda, Maryland. Related cash expenditures were completed in 2012. In early 2012, USEC initiated an internal review of its organizational structure and engaged a management consulting firm to support this review. USEC is also engaged with its advisors and certain stakeholders on alternatives for a possible restructuring of its balance sheet. Special charges recorded for these advisors totaled $2.3 million and $4.7 million in the three months and six months ended June 30, 2013, compared to $1.5 million and $6.0 million in the corresponding periods of 2012. As discussed in Note 11, "Pension and Postretirement Health and Life Benefits," USEC will freeze benefit accruals under its defined benefit pension plans, effective August 5, 2013, for active employees who are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Pension benefits will no longer increase for these employees to reflect changes in compensation or credited service. However, these employees will not lose any benefits earned through August 4, 2013 under the pension plans. USEC is currently in discussions with the leadership of the two local unions which represent approximately one-half of the employees at the Paducah plant regarding the implementation of these changes for their members. Unamortized prior service costs related to those pension plan participants were accelerated and a plan re-measurement was conducted. The result was a curtailment gain of $0.7 million recorded in the second quarter of 2013 to special charges.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for restructuring and related activities. Description of restructuring activities such as exit and disposal activities, include facts and circumstances leading to the plan, the expected plan completion date, the major types of costs associated with the plan activities, total expected costs, the accrual balance at the end of the period, and the periods over which the remaining accrual will be settled. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 146 -Paragraph 20 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 420 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 2 -Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 5.P.4) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6394695&loc=d3e140904-122747 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 420 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SAB TOPIC 5.P.3) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6394695&loc=d3e140864-122747 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) -Number Topic 5 -Section P -Subsection 3, 4 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 420 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6394359&loc=d3e17939-110869 + Details
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