$5 billion Ohio uranium plant looks less and less likely

The deadline for a crucial federal loan guarantee backing a proposed uranium plant in southern Ohio came and went Monday leading some to wonder if the project will ever get shovels in the ground, the Dayton Daily News reports.

For the second time in three months, investors in a $5 billion uranium centrifuge project in Pike County have said they will give the federal government more time to offer a $2 billion loan guarantee.

Ohio officials first unveiled plans for the plant in 2009, promising 4,000 jobs for an area with the worst unemployment in the US state.

Dayton Daily News reports Maryland-based USEC has been forced to extend its “standstill” agreement with two key investors — Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corp. and Babcock & Wilcox Investment Co. — until Sept. 30, 2011.

An electrical outage caused some equipment failure at the site’s existing operations in June, prompting concerns over the nuclear-producing technology’s safety and viability.