Commitments and Contingencies | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Commitments under SWU Purchase Agreements TENEX The Russian government-owned entity TENEX, Joint-Stock Company (“TENEX”), is a major supplier of SWU to the Company. Under a 2011 agreement with TENEX, as amended, (the “TENEX Supply Contract”), the Company purchases SWU contained in LEU received from TENEX, and the Company delivers natural uranium to TENEX for the LEU’s uranium component. The LEU that the Company obtains from TENEX is subject to quotas and other restrictions applicable to commercial Russian LEU. Further, the ability of the Company or TENEX to perform under the TENEX Supply Contract is vulnerable to (i) sanctions or restrictions that might be imposed by Russia, the United States, or other countries, as a result of the war in Ukraine, or otherwise, (ii) customers and other parties who may object to receiving or handling Russian LEU or SWU, or (iii) suppliers and service providers seeking to limit their involvement with business related to Russia. The TENEX Supply Contract originally was signed with commitments through 2022, but was modified in 2015 to give the Company the right to reschedule certain quantities of SWU of the original commitments into the period 2023 and beyond, in return for the purchase of additional SWU in those years. The Company has exercised this right to reschedule in each year through December 31, 2021, and expects to do so in 2022. If the Company exercises this right to reschedule in full during the remaining years of the contract, the Company will have a rescheduled post-2022 purchase commitment that could extend through 2028. The TENEX Supply Contract provides that the Company must pay for all SWU in its minimum purchase obligation each year, even if it fails to submit orders for such SWU. In such a case, the Company would pay for the SWU but have to take the unordered SWU in the following year. Pricing terms for SWU under the TENEX Supply Contract are based on a combination of market-related price points and other factors. This formula was subject to an adjustment at the end of 2018 that reduced the unit costs of SWU under this contract in 2019 and for the duration of the contract. Orano In 2018, the Company entered into an agreement (the “Orano Supply Agreement”) with the French company Orano Cycle for the long-term supply to the Company of SWU contained in LEU. The Orano Supply Agreement subsequently was assigned by Orano Cycle to its affiliate, Orano CE (“Orano”). Under the amended Orano Supply Agreement, the supply of SWU currently runs through 2029, and the Company has an option to extend through 2030. The Orano Supply Agreement provides significant flexibility to adjust purchase volumes, subject to annual minimums and maximums in fixed amounts that vary year by year. The pricing for the SWU purchased by the Company is determined by a formula that uses a combination of market-related price points and other factors and is subject to certain floors and ceilings. Milestones Under the 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement The Company’s predecessor USEC Inc. and DOE signed an agreement dated June 17, 2002, as amended (the “2002 DOE-USEC Agreement”), pursuant to which the parties made long-term commitments directed at resolving issues related to the stability and security of the domestic uranium enrichment industry. The 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement requires Centrus to develop, demonstrate and deploy advanced enrichment technology in accordance with milestones, including the deployment of a commercial American Centrifuge Plant, and provides for remedies in the event of a failure to meet a milestone under certain circumstances, including terminating the 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement, revoking Centrus’ access to DOE’s centrifuge technology that is required for the success of the Company’s ongoing work with the American Centrifuge technology, requiring Centrus to transfer certain rights in the American Centrifuge technology and facilities to DOE, and requiring Centrus to reimburse DOE for certain costs associated with the American Centrifuge technology. The 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement provides that if a delaying event beyond the control and without the fault or negligence of Centrus occurs that could affect Centrus’ ability to meet the American Centrifuge Plant milestone under the 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement, DOE and the Company will jointly meet to discuss in good faith possible adjustments to the milestones as appropriate to accommodate the delaying event. In 2014, the 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement and other agreements between the Company and DOE were assumed by Centrus subject to an express reservation of all rights, remedies and defenses by DOE and the Company under those agreements. DOE and the Company have agreed that all rights, remedies and defenses of the parties with respect to any missed milestones and all other matters under the 2002 DOE-USEC Agreement continue to be preserved, and that the time limits for each party to respond to any missed milestones continue to be tolled. Legal Matters From time to time, the Company is involved in various pending legal proceedings, including the pending legal proceedings described below. In 1993, the United States Enrichment Corporation, at that time a wholly owned government corporation (“USEC-Government”), entered into a lease for the Paducah and Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plants (collectively, the “GDPs”) with the DOE. As part of that lease, DOE and USEC-Government also entered into a memorandum of understanding (“Power MOU”) regarding power purchase agreements between DOE and the providers of power to the GDPs. Under the Power MOU, DOE and USEC-Government agreed upon the allocation of rights and liabilities under the power purchase agreements. In 1998, USEC-Government was privatized and became the United States Enrichment Corporation, now a principal subsidiary of the Company (“Enrichment Corp.”). Pursuant to legislation authorizing the privatization, the lease for the GDPs, which included the Power MOU as an Appendix, was transferred to Enrichment Corp. and Enrichment Corp. was given the right to purchase power from DOE. The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (“Paducah GDP”) was shut down in 2013 and deleased by Enrichment Corp. in 2014. On August 4, 2021, DOE informally informed Enrichment Corp. that the Joppa power plant, which had supplied power to the Paducah GDP, was planned to be decontaminated and decommissioned (“D&D”). According to DOE, the power purchase agreement with Electric Energy Inc. (“EEI”) requires DOE to pay for a portion of the D&D costs of the Joppa power plant and DOE has asserted that a portion of the DOE liability is the responsibility of Enrichment Corp. under the Power MOU in the amount of approximately $9.6 million. The Company is assessing DOE’s assertions including whether all or a portion of any such potential liability had been previously settled. The Company has not formed an opinion on the merits nor is it able to estimate the potential liability, if any, and no expense or liability has been accrued. On May 26, 2019, the Company, Enrichment Corp., and six other DOE contractors who have operated facilities at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio ( “Portsmouth GDP”) (including, in the case of the Company, the American Centrifuge Plant site located on the premises) were named as defendants in a class action complaint filed by Ursula McGlone, Jason McGlone, Julia Dunham, and K.D. and C.D., minor children by and through their parent and natural guardian Julia Dunham (collectively, the “McGlone Plaintiffs”) in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division. The complaint seeks damages for alleged off-site contamination allegedly resulting from activities on the Portsmouth GDP site. The McGlone Plaintiffs are seeking to represent a class of (i) all current or former residents within a seven-mile radius of the Portsmouth GDP site and (ii) all students and their parents at the Zahn’s Corner Middle School from 1993-present. The complaint was amended on December 10, 2019 and on January 10, 2020 to add additional plaintiffs and new claims. On July 31, 2020, the court granted in part and denied in part the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case. The court dismissed ten of the fifteen claims and allowed the remaining claims to proceed to the next stage of the litigation process. On August 18, 2020, the McGlone Plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to file a third amended complaint and notice of dismissal of three of the individual plaintiffs. On March 18, 2021, the McGlone Plaintiffs filed a motion for leave to file a fourth amended complaint to add new plaintiffs and allegations. On March 19, 2021, the court granted the McGlone Plaintiffs’ motion for leave to amend the complaint to include Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act (“Price-Anderson Act”) and eight other state law claims. On May 24, 2021, the Company, Enrichment Corp., and the other defendants filed their motion to dismiss the complaint. On March 31, 2022, the court granted our motion in part by dismissing claims brought on behalf of the minor children but allowed the other claims to proceed. As such, the discovery stage of litigation is continuing. On April 28, 2022, the Company, Enrichment Corp., and the other defendants filed their answer to the fourth amended complaint. The Company believes that its operations at the Portsmouth GDP site were fully in compliance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulations. Further, the Company believes that any such liability should be indemnified under the Price-Anderson Act. The Company and Enrichment Corp. have provided notifications to DOE required to invoke indemnification under the Price-Anderson Act and other contractual provisions. On June 8, 2022, the Company, Enrichment Corp., and six other DOE contractors who operated facilities at the Portsmouth GDP were named as defendants in a complaint filed by Brad Allen Lykins, as administrator of the estate of Braden Aaron Lee Lykins in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division (“Lykins Complaint”). In March 2021, Brayden Lykins, who was thirteen years old, passed away from leukemia. The complaint alleges that the defendants released radiation into the environment in violation of the Price-Anderson Act causing Lykins’ death and seeks monetary damages. The response to the Lykins Complaint is scheduled for August 30, 2022. The Company and Enrichment Corp. believes that its operations at the Portsmouth GDP site were fully in compliance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s regulations. Further, the Company believes that any such liability should be indemnified under the Price-Anderson Act. The Company and Enrichment Corp. have provided notifications to DOE required to invoke indemnification under the Price-Anderson Act and other contractual provisions. Centrus is subject to various legal proceedings and claims, either asserted or unasserted, which arise in the ordinary course of business. While the outcome of these claims cannot be predicted with certainty, other than the above, Centrus does not believe that the outcome of any of these legal matters, individually and in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on its cash flows, results of operations, or consolidated financial condition. |