WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONGPA/W/185
20 February 2002
(02-0874)
Committee on Government Procurement Original:  English
RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY IN DOCUMENT
GPA/W/163 REGARDING THE PROPOSED MODIFICATIONS TO APPENDIX I
OF THE UNITED STATES WITH RESPECT TO THE URANIUM
ENRICHMENT CORPORATION IN GPA/W/153
Communication from the United States
The following communication, dated 12 February 2002, has been received from the
delegation of the United States with the request that it be circulated to the Committee on Government
Procurement.
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The United States provides the following response to the questions from the European
Community regarding the proposed modification of  Appendix I with respect to the Uranium
Enrichment Corporation.
I. COMPANY STRUCTURE
Question 1:   Please explain who are the present shareholders of the “Uranium Enrichment
Corporation”, specifying if there are public entities among them.
The "Uranium Enrichment Corporation" listed in Annex 1 of Appendix I refers to the  "United
States Enrichment Corporation" ("USEC"), which was created pursuant to the provisions of the
Energy Policy Act of 1992, Pub. L. No. 102-486, 106 Stat. 2776 (codified at 42 USC. 2201 et seq. ).
USEC was a wholly owned US Government corpor ation until July 1998, when pursuant to the USEC
Privatization Act, Pub. L. No. 104-134, §§3101-3117, 110 Stat. 1321, 1335-1350 (codified at 42 USC.
§2297h et seq. ), the US Government sold its entire interest in the company by means of a public
offering of stock.  Pursuant to this transaction, USEC was merged into a private corporation, also
named United States Enrichment Corporation ("Enrichment Corporation"), and USEC ceased to exist.
Today, the Enrichment Corporation is a who lly owned subsidiary of USEC Inc., a publicly
traded company whose shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange.  USEC Inc.'s stock is
owned by approximately 29,000 benefi cial holders as of 15 August 2001.   The USEC Privatization
Act explicitly states that the Enrichment Corporation is not "an agency, instrumentality, orestablishment of the United States, a government corporation, or a government-controlled
corporation".  See 42 USC. §2297h-3(b)(1).
Question 2:  Is there any relationship between the "United States Government" and the "Uranium
Enrichment Corporation" in terms of appointment and removal of managers, representation on the
executive level and on other company bodies?
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Question 3:  Does the United States Government exert any control or influence over the activities
carried out by the “Enrichment Corporation”?
The US Government does not exert any control or influence over the activities carried out by
USEC, Inc.  However, as with other publicly traded companies in the nuclear industry, variousUS Government agencies have regulatory functions or responsibilities related to activities of USEC,
Inc.  These agencies include the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC"), the US Environmental
Protection Agency, the US Department of Tr ansportation, the US Securities and Exchange
Commission, the US Occupational Safety and Heal th Administration and the US Department of
Energy ("DOE").
II. ACTIVITIES OF THE COMPANY AND MARKET SHARE
Question 1:  Please clarify what the activities of th e "Uranium Enrichment Corporation" are.
USEC, Inc. supplies enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants around the
world.  More specific information about USEC, Inc. can be found at its website, www.usec.com .
Question 2:  Does the "Uranium Enrichment Corporation" have any special or exclusive rights as
regards any of these activities?
USEC, Inc. serves as the executive agent for the US Government in implementing an
Executive Agent agreement under which USEC, Inc. purchases low enriched uranium (LEU) derivedfrom highly enriched uranium from the Russian Federation under the Agreement Between the
Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Russian Federation
Concerning the Disposition of Highly Enriched Uranium Extracted from Nuclear Weapons, dated
18 February 1993.  USEC, Inc. can be replaced as the US Government's executive agent at any time.
Question 3:  Are there any other corporations/entities performing the same types of activity in the
United States?
USEC, Inc. is the only company in the United States that enriches uranium for commercial
use.
BWX Technologies (BWXT), in Lynchburg, Virginia, produces LEU through downblending
of US Government weapons material.  Currently, BWXT is downblending material supplied by
USEC, Inc. from an inventory transferred to USEC , Inc. under the USEC Privatization Act of 1996.
Several companies sell foreign-produced LEU in competition with USEC, Inc. in the United
States.  The two largest companies that sell LEU in the United States are Urenco Inc., the USsubsidiary of Urenco, Ltd. of the United Kingdom and Cogema Inc., the US subsidiary of Compagnie
Generale des Matieres Nucleares ("COGEMA"), of France.
Question 4:   Please describe the general state of competition in this sector, and specify the legal
conditions which a company must meet before it star ts up an activity similar to that of the “Uranium
Enrichment Corporation”.  Please also clarify the basic rules which are given the sector relating to
the treatment, use and trade of uranium.
LEU Production:  Only entities licensed by the NRC may produce LEU in the United States.
Federal regulations that apply to obtaining such licenses are published in the US Government's Code
of Federal Regulations, Title 10, Part 2.GPA/W/185
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LEU Resale:  There is no specific US Government approval required to resell LEU.
However, the transportation of LEU requires a lic ence as does the importation/exportation of LEU.
All such licences are issued by the NRC or, in the case of domestic transportation of nuclear material,
the US Department of Transportation.
State of Competition:  As described in response to Question 3, there is significant competition
in this sector.
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