Ohio's Senate delegation is still pushing to provide federal funding to a uranium enrichment facility in the state after the funds were left out of the massive $1 trillion spending bill that passed in both chambers last week.

Sens. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican, floated bipartisan legislation this weekend that would shift existing funds at the Energy Department to pay for the research and development project.

"This isn't about politics. This is about national security, protecting taxpayer investment and preserving good-paying Ohio jobs," the lawmakers said in a statement.

DOE had asked for up to $300 million over the next two years to test uranium enrichment technology using gas centrifuges at U.S. Enrichment Corp.'s (USEC) plant in Piketon, Ohio. But appropriators did not include $150 million for current fiscal year funding for the project in the massive spending compromise that cleared the House on Friday and the Senate on Saturday.

The fate of USEC's technology without DOE financial support remains unclear. But the lawmakers are optimistic that Energy Secretary Steven Chu will help ensure the project has adequate funding. Brown, Portman and Chu spoke about the project Saturday.

"During our conversation with the secretary, we agreed that we would work together with him to ensure that the [project] has the funding necessary to continue its important work," the senators said.

Their new legislation would reprogram $106 million in existing DOE funds and would raise $44 million from assets in the form of uranium enrichment tails.

USEC has also asked for a $2 billion loan guarantee to build the plant.