USEC Inc. may have to furlough some employees at its American Centrifuge uranium enrichment project in Ohio if the U.S. government shutdown extends beyond Oct. 15, a company spokesman said.

USEC, a supplier of enriched uranium for commercial nuclear power plants, needs about $48 million to complete the $350 million project, which is majority funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

"The money that would allow us to carry on for the next two weeks is the fiscal year 2013 funds that we have been able to carry over," Paul Jacobson, vice president of corporate communications, told Reuters.

Congressional Republicans and the White House are in a stalemate over government funding, which has forced the first government shutdown in 17 years.