USEC Planning for Continued Operations of Paducah Plant

USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) announced today that it is working to extend the
operation of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant beyond May 2012 and
expects to reach a decision during the first half of 2011.

USEC will base its decision to extend operations upon economic
considerations and the ability of the plant to operate profitably.
Because the plant is a large consumer of electricity, power prices are a
significant factor in the cost of operations and future planning for
Paducah. The Company is actively negotiating with the Tennessee Valley
Authority (TVA) and others for power to operate Paducah beyond mid-2012
when USEC′s current power agreement with TVA expires.

To support extended operations, USEC is also examining the potential of
enriching a portion of the Department of Energy′s (DOE) depleted uranium
stockpile. Depleted uranium is a by-product generated during enrichment.
Given the current price of uranium, the federal government could
generate substantial revenue by re-enriching portions of the depleted
uranium at Paducah to the level of natural uranium.

Enriching the depleted uranium at Paducah would reduce DOE′s costs of
ultimately disposing of the depleted uranium and would create a valuable
asset, natural uranium, that could help fund DOE′s Environmental
Management cleanup program, which includes the gaseous diffusion plants
in Paducah, Ky., and Piketon, Ohio. The amount of natural uranium that
would be sold annually under such a program represents less than 2.5
percent of global uranium demand and, as has been demonstrated over the
past year, sales of surplus DOE uranium can be implemented without an
adverse material impact on the domestic uranium industry.

'DOE has a unique opportunity while the plant is still operating that
would be a win-win for everyone,? said Steve Penrod, Paducah plant
general manager and USEC vice president. 'Re-enrichment would reduce
DOE′s decontamination and decommissioning costs while generating revenue
for the federal government and maintaining 1,200 good, local jobs. From
the American taxpayers′ standpoint, it makes a lot of sense to extract
the valuable uranium; and the time to act is now while Paducah′s
capacity is available and uranium prices are strong.?

USEC recently announced that it has reached a new labor agreement with
the United Steel Workers Local 550. The contract, which runs through
July of 2016, will ensure a well- qualified workforce is in place to
support the efficient operation of the Paducah plant.

The plant produces low enriched uranium used as fuel in commercial
nuclear power plants in the United States and around the world and
currently provides approximately half of USEC′s annual supply of low
enriched uranium.

USEC Inc., a global energy company, is a leading supplier of enriched
uranium fuel to commercial nuclear power plants.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains 'forward-looking statements? ? that is,
statements related to future events. In this context, forward-looking
statements may address our expected future business and financial
performance, and often contain words such as 'expects,? 'anticipates,?
'intends,? 'plans,? 'believes,? 'will? and other words of similar
meaning. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that
are, to different degrees, uncertain. For USEC, particular risks and
uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ
materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to: uncertainty regarding the cost of
electric power used at our gaseous diffusion plant; our inability under
many existing long-term contracts to directly pass on to customers
increases in our costs; our ability to obtain a contract to enrich DOE′s
depleted uranium on satisfactory terms, in a sufficient amount, or at
all; pricing trends and demand in the uranium and enrichment markets and
their impact on our profitability; changes to, or termination of, our
contracts with the U.S. government; changes in U.S. government
priorities and the availability of government funding; risks related to
the deployment of the American Centrifuge technology, including risks
related to performance, cost, schedule and financing, and the impact on
our prospects; our success in obtaining a loan guarantee for the
American Centrifuge Plant, including our ability to reach agreement with
DOE on acceptable terms of a conditional commitment, including credit
subsidy cost, and our ability to meet any required conditions to
funding; the impact of government regulation; the competitive
environment for our products and services; changes in the nuclear energy
industry; and other risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings
with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report
on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, which are available on
our website at www.usec.com.
We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements except as
required by law.

USEC Inc.

Media:

Paul Jacobson, 301-564-3399

or

Investors:

Steven
Wingfield, 301-564-3354