OAK RIDGE (AP) — Some 325 Oak Ridge workers involved in the joint USEC Inc./Babcock & Wilcox American Centrifuge Project have been notified they may be laid off by December.

The Knoxville News Sentinel reported Monday the layoffs may be forthcoming if the project does not receive more funding this month (http://bit.ly/qcCKev).

USEC and Babcock & Wilcox are partners in the project, a uranium-enrichment plant under development in Ohio. However, the project has been stymied by the inability to receive a $2 billion Department of Energy loan guarantee. In September, USEC announced that its board of directors had voted to continue investment in the centrifuge project but reduce spending by 30 percent during October.

The company also is considering demobilizing the project during November and having suppliers suspend some activities, the paper said.