NewsMine — cabal-elite — corporate — uranium — Viewing Item

Privitize uranium plant Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)    http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2001/03/17/ky_uranium.html http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2001/03/17/ky_uranium.html Judge criticizes uranium-privatization deal By KATHERINE RIZZO, Associated Press A C-J in-depth look: The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant WASHINGTON -- A federal judge yesterday harshly described the process used by the government to decide to sell its uranium business. District Judge Gladys Kessler delivered the criticism in a written opinion ordering the Energy Department to pay labor-union lawyers who used the Freedom of Information Act to successfully sue for documents showing how the uranium-privatization decision was made. The suit seeking lawyer fees was filed on behalf of the union representing workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky and Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Piketon, Ohio. The union, which at the time of privatization was called Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International, now is part of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union. "The transcripts of the closed board meetings . . . reveal the ways in which bias, self-interest and self-dealing can influence the decision-making process, especially when that process is kept entirely secretive," Kessler wrote. The documents "inform the public about what 'went wrong' with privatization in this case and what procedures and criteria should be used in the future when other federal entities consider privatization," the judge said. The opinion noted that the U.S. Enrichment Corp.'s outside lawyers made about $15 million, a financial adviser stood to make $7.5 million if a board approved a public stock offering, and U.S. Enrichment's chief executive, William "Nick" Timbers, received a $617,625 bonus on top of his salary and stock options. All urged approval of the stock deal, which produced $1.9 billion for the government. U.S. Enrichment spokeswoman Elizabeth Stuckle said the judge settling the lawyer-fee demand didn't have the company's side of the story. "The court did not have the benefit of any input from us on the fee proceeding. If they had, we feel the court would not have made these incorrect comments," she said. The privatization process has been the subject of criticism on Capitol Hill, and that criticism grew last year when U.S. Enrichment's finances began to falter and it announced plans to close the Ohio plant. One of the critics, Rep. Ted Strickland, D-Ohio, called Kessler's criticisms "a vindication of what some of us have been saying all along." "Privatization was fundamentally flawed. It enriched a few and will hurt a lot of people," he said. "Every feature of privatization was rotten to the core." Strickand's district includes Piketon.

Kentucky uranium plant Privitize uranium plant Uranium plant overdose Files Listed: 3

Correction/submissions

CIA FOIA Archive

National Security Archives

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information, go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purpose of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.