WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration agreed yesterday to give USEC at least six months before making a final decision on a $2 billion loan guarantee the Maryland company needs to build a uranium-enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio.

The U.S. Department of Energy made the announcement just one week after it had asked USEC to withdraw its original application for the loan guarantee.

USEC said last week it could not finance the $3.5 billion plant without the federal loan guarantee and would begin to "demobilize" the project, costing hundreds of jobs.

"This agreement gives USEC the time it needs to fully test its technology and develop additional financial support for the project," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said yesterday in a statement.

John K. Welch, president and chief executive officer of USEC, said his company is "committed to continuing our development efforts in Oak Ridge and Piketon to prepare the technology for full commercialization. The agreement provides a path forward for consideration of our loan-guarantee application."

Elizabeth Stuckle, a USEC spokeswoman, said, "We will continue our development work in Oak Ridge and our demonstration work in Piketon. But the construction of the commercial plant (in Piketon) will cease until further funding is available."

An official for the Energy Department plans to brief members of the Ohio congressional delegation today about the agreement.

Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich issued a statement saying the delay would allow "additional work on the application to meet DOE's technology and funding requirements. This could mean the USEC application could move forward in the loan-guarantee process."

USEC wants to build the advanced technology enrichment plant on the site where it shuttered an old plant in 2001. Overall, the project would employ 5,700 people directly or indirectly in eight states.

More than 600 people already are working in Piketon, and USEC has said a fully operational plant would employ 400 people for years to come.

jtorry@dispatch.com