IDAHO FALLS, Idaho, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- International Isotopes Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: INIS) announces its selection of a site in Lea County, New Mexico, for the construction of International Isotopes' depleted uranium de-conversion and fluorine extraction processing facility. The site location is approximately 15 miles west of Hobbs, NM. INIS announced it's plans to construct the de-conversion facility in 2008 and has since been working on site selection, plant design, and licensing.
"We are very excited about the prospect of building this facility and conducting business in Lea County and the State of New Mexico. The level of support and enthusiasm for this project at both the local and the state level have been gratifying. We look forward to working with the local community and the State to construct a state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly processing facility. We plan to incorporate the best available technology and make efficient use of resources for construction and operation of this facility," said Steve Laflin, International Isotopes President and CEO.
"We intend to operate this facility in a safe, environmentally responsible manner and to maintain an open, honest relationship with the community. International Isotopes Inc. will strive to become a valued member and contributor to the region and the state," continued Laflin.
INIS had previously reported narrowing its site selection study to locations in Eastern Idaho, Andrews County, Texas, and Lea County, New Mexico. For final site selection, INIS conducted an exhaustive review of each proposed site's environmental characteristics, economics, and utility infrastructure. In addition, numerous meetings were held in each location to inform city officials and the public about the project and to allow INIS to gauge public support.
"We looked at three communities which were all intensely interested and which strongly competed for this project. We found broad support for the project in each of these communities and many unique and positive attributes of each community that made this site selection process very difficult," concluded Laflin. "New Mexico is very excited that International Isotopes has decided to locate in Lea County. The New Mexico Economic Development Secretary, Fred Mondragon, said, "The Economic Development Corporation of Lea County and the Energy Committee should be commended for attracting this excellent company to our state. This industry will fit well with the growing nuclear energy activities in Lea County, such as those of the National Enrichment Facility."
The new facility will consist of both depleted uranium de-conversion and fluorine gas extraction processes. INIS holds patents that give it exclusive rights to the Fluorine Extraction Process (FEP), which produces high value, high purity gases in conjunction with uranium de-conversion and provides a key commercial advantage to the de-conversion project. To our knowledge, there are currently no operating de-conversion facilities for depleted uranium anywhere in the world. INIS expects to hire about 150 construction workers for the project and begin building the facility in 2011, after Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing is complete. INIS expects to employ a full time staff of approximately 130 to 150 employees for plant operations. The plant is expected to have an initial de-conversion capacity equivalent to processing approximately 575 deleted UF6 tails cylinders per year. Those cylinders are expected to come from one or more enrichment companies in the U.S. and INIS will charge for this de-conversion service. The end products of the de-conversion process will be high purity, anhydrous hydrofluoric acid (HF) and silicon tetrafluoride gas. Both of those products are in demand for a wide range of industrial manufacturing applications.
Laflin also pointed out that, although the Hobbs area was selected for the main project, the other sites under consideration would still benefit from the INIS plans. The size of the workforce anticipated for the facility will likely require INIS to reach across state lines into Texas both for recruitment and to provide additional employee educational opportunities in Andrews and Midland, Texas. Laflin stated that this announcement would not impact INIS' continued core business operations in Idaho Falls; in fact, INIS has also announced plans to significantly expand their existing Idaho operations by constructing a large-scale FEP demonstration facility in Idaho. That facility is expected to cost approximately $10 million dollars and employ an additional 20 or more engineers and technicians. Design of that facility is already underway and construction could start as early as the fourth quarter, 2009, with operations starting in mid 2010.
INIS continues to caution that it will need to raise significant additional capital to complete these projects. Given current market conditions, there can be no guarantee the capital will be available, or available under acceptable terms. However, INIS is currently evaluating several paths to raise the capital that will be necessary for the project including agreements with companies that have interests in either enrichment or procurement of the products of uranium de-conversion and fluorine extraction.
About International Isotopes Inc.
International Isotopes Inc. manufactures a full range of nuclear medicine calibration and reference standards, high purity fluoride gases, and a variety of cobalt-60 products such as teletherapy sources. The Company also provides a wide selection of radioisotopes and radiochemicals for medical devices, calibration, clinical research, life sciences, and industrial applications and provides a host of analytical, measurement, recycling, and processing services on a contract basis to clients.
International Isotopes Inc. Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including the statements with respect to the Company's goals with respect to; incorporating best available technology, use of resources for construction and operation of this facility, FEP providing key commercial advantages to the de-conversion project, plans to expand existing Idaho operations, negotiating agreements with other companies, and raising the necessary capital to construct the facility. Information contained in such forward-looking statements is based on current expectations and is subject to change. These statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements of International Isotopes Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Other factors, which could materially affect such forward-looking statements, can be found in International Isotopes Inc.'s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission at www.sec.gov, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ending December 31, 2008. Investors, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Additional factors that could materially affect the results, performance or achievements of the Company include the ability to successfully obtain additional funding necessary to complete its planned de-conversion facility and complete construction and licensing of such facility, which may not occur. Achievement by the Company of the project goals is substantially dependent on securing the capital to complete design and construct the plant and securing off-take agreements with commercial enrichment companies for depleted uranium hexafluoride for de-conversion services and supply of the raw material for the production of high quality fluoride gasses. The forward-looking statements made herein are only made as of the date of this press release and International Isotopes, Inc., undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
For more information, visit our web site at www.intisoid.com
For More Information, Contact:
Steve Laflin, President and CEO
(208) 524-5300
SOURCE International Isotopes Inc.
