TPi January 2010

news business & market

TenCate selected by ATK for American Centrifuge programme

USEC Inc has applied for and is awaiting approval from the DoE Loan Guarantee programme as the path for obtaining debt funding to complete the American Centrifuge Plant. According to USEC Inc, the American Centrifuge Plant will play an important role in America’s energy security and national security.

Centrifuge Plant, which will replace its existing gaseous diffusion plant and will be the only domestic US-owned and operated enrichment facility. The centrifuge method uses cascades of large numbers of composite rotor tubes, and is more cost effective than the gas diffusion enrichment process.

TenCate Advanced Composites USA has announced that Alliant Techsystems (ATK) has selected TenCate as a composite pre-preg material supplier for the manufacture of composite rotor tubes used in USEC Inc’s American Centrifuge Plant in Piketon, Ohio, USA. The materials will be manufactured in the TenCate Advanced Composites facilities in Northern California. Sales as a result of this supply agreement will start from 2010, provided USEC Inc receives Department of Energy (DoE) debt funding for the project. TenCate Advanced Composites is a producer of advanced composite materials primarily for the space and aerospace markets and for the personal and vehicle armour markets. There is an increasing interest from other industrial sectors, which will broaden the application areas for these materials. Scott Unger, president of TenCate Advanced Composites USA stated, “We are pleased to have been selected by ATK to participate as co-supplier in this programme. The experience of TenCate with high modulus pre-preg systems for satellite programmes has provided the expertise needed to transition this material from select aerospace usage into an important industrial infrastructure programme. The American Centrifuge Plant is an important element in the US’s goal to achieve energy independence.” TenCate and its wholly owned subsidiaries, YLA Inc and CCS Composites Inc in Benicia, California, have provided ATK with high modulus pre-pregs and compression moulded parts for many years for critical aerospace and satellite programmes. ATK is the manufacturer of composite rotor tubes used in the centrifugemethod enrichment process. ATK will fabricate these tubes in its Rocket Center facility in West Virginia, USA. USEC Inc (United States Enrichment Corporation) in Bethesda, Maryland, currently operates the only enrichment facility in the United States and supplies more than a quarter of the world market. USEC Inc is deploying the American

TenCate Advanced Composites USA – USA

royal@tencate.com www.tencate.com

HIGH PRESSURE FITTINGS Forged-Carbon-Alloy-Stainless Steel, Threaded and Socket Weld PRODUCTS: 90°/45° elbow, tee, union, coupling, bushing, plug, cap, insert, pipe nipple & swage nipple . . .etc. MATERIALS: - Stainless Steel: ASTM A182, F304/304L, F316/316L, F304H/F316H, F317L - Carbon Steel: ASTM A105, SF440A & A181, A350 LF2 - Alloy Steel: ASTM A182 F11, F22 PRESSURE RATINGS: 2000, 3000, 6000 & 9000 lbs APPROVAL CERTIFICATES: ISO-9001 Quality Assurance, L/R, C/R, N/K & ABS register of shipping, PED (CE)

Manufacturer & Exporter BOTH-WELL STEEL FITTINGS CO., LTD. No. 303, Jen-Hsin Rd., Jen-Wu Hslang, Kaohsiung Hsien, Taiwan (814) Tel: +886 7 3711536, 3710497, 3720260 Fax: +886 7 3713864, 3713882 E-mail: box@mail.bothwell.com.tw http://www.bothwell.com.tw E-mail: export@mail.bothwell.com.tw ®

11

www.read-tpi.com

January 2010 Tube Products International