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AREVA Selects Bonneville County, Idaho, for its Uranium Enrichment Facility
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| Copyright: | PR Newswire | | Source: | PR Newswire | | Wordcount: | 1353 |
BETHESDA, Md., May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- AREVA Inc. announced today that it
has selected the state of Idaho for its new U.S. uranium enrichment
facility. The site is located in Bonneville County, 18 miles west of Idaho
Falls, close to the Idaho National Lab.
The selection was made after an extensive technical, environmental and
socio-economical analysis of several potential sites throughout the United
States. With its decision, AREVA will move forward to seek all necessary
approvals from federal, state and local agencies, including a license from
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct and operate the facility.
"The United States needs more clean energy to support its economic
growth. To enable us to meet those needs we have to expand our domestic
nuclear infrastructure, secure our supply of enrichment services, and reduce
our reliance on foreign imports. This new enrichment plant is a critical
part of this process," said Michael McMurphy, president of AREVA Inc. He
added, "While we had several attractive sites to choose from, we opted for
Idaho Falls, which has strong ties to nuclear energy, and which welcomed
AREVA and its proposed enrichment facility to become a new member of its
community. We look forward to a productive and long-term partnership that
will deliver diversity and strength to the regional economy."
The new state-of-the-art facility represents a multi-billion dollar
investment that would create hundreds of high-skilled jobs during the
construction and operation phases.
The Idaho Falls plant will provide enrichment services to U.S. nuclear
plant operators using advanced proven centrifuge technology developed by the
Enrichment Technology Company, Ltd. (ETC), an AREVA subsidiary, and world
leader in enrichment services technology. This centrifuge technology has
been successfully deployed in Europe for more than thirty years, using 50
times less electricity than the gaseous diffusion process.
AREVA is a major supplier of enrichment services. It owns and operates
the Georges Besse enrichment plant in France, which has safely operated for
nearly three decades. AREVA is currently constructing a new gas centrifuge
enrichment facility in France -- Georges Besse II -- which is expected to
become operational in 2009.
To find out more, explore AREVA's Uranium Enrichment Web site at:
http://www.us.areva-nc.com/
More about AREVA
As the leading U.S. nuclear vendor and a key player in the electricity
transmission and distribution sector, AREVA Inc.'s 5,300 U.S. energy
employees are committed to serving the nation and paving the way for the
future of the electricity market. With 45 locations across the nation and
nearly $2 billion in energy revenues in 2007, AREVA Inc., through its
subsidiaries, combines U.S. leadership, access to worldwide expertise and a
proven track record of performance. In the U.S. and in more than 100
countries around the world, AREVA is engaged in the 21st century's greatest
challenges: making energy available to all, protecting the planet, and
acting responsibly toward future generations. AREVA Inc. is headquartered in
Bethesda, Maryland.
FACT SHEET AREVA: World Leader in Uranium Enrichment Facts: -- Uranium must be enriched before it can be used as nuclear reactor fuel. -- The new AREVA enrichment facility will use advanced centrifuge technology. AREVA has more than 30 years experience operating enrichment facility safely. -- Even if no new nuclear power plants are constructed, the U.S. market will require all of the output from the AREVA and other planned facilities.
What is Uranium Enrichment?
Nuclear power plants supply 20 percent of America's electricity safely
and reliably.
Nuclear power plants use uranium as a fuel source. Uranium is a
naturally occurring metal found in deposits throughout the world. In its
natural state, it cannot be used by nuclear power plants. It must first go
through a series of refinements.
After uranium ore is mined, it is processed into a concentrated form
called yellowcake, due to its bright yellow color when dried at a low
temperature and its powdery consistency. Impurities are then removed and the
yellowcake is converted into a material called uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a
suitable form for enrichment.
At this stage, the UF6 must be further processed, or enriched. The
ultimate goal of enrichment is to increase the amount of a specific element
in the UF6 -- uranium-235. This element is the key building block of nuclear
power plant fuel.
Enrichment Technologies There are two ways to enrich uranium: -- Gaseous diffusion -- Centrifuge technology
Gaseous diffusion, the technology used at the existing AREVA facility,
involves passing uranium gas through porous barriers to separate out the
needed uranium-235. This technology is still used today. However, there is
also a more advanced technology using centrifuges that is increasingly
becoming the standard around the world. This process is much more effective,
using 50 times less electricity and significantly less water than gaseous
diffusion.
In the centrifuge process, uranium gas is separated by high-speed
rotation in a vacuum-sealed cylinder. The centrifugal force created by the
rotation pushes the heavier particles in the gas outward towards the
cylinder wall, where they fall to the bottom. The lighter uranium-235
particles migrate to the center, where they are transported upward and
captured. This basic separation stage is repeated within a series of
centrifuges called cascades. This method allows AREVA to increase the
percentage of uranium-235.
When the uranium gas contains the appropriate percentage of uranium-235,
it is cooled to form a crystalline solid. It is then shipped to a fuel
fabrication facility where it eventually will be processed into the fuel
assemblies that are used to generate electricity at nuclear power plants.
The new AREVA enrichment facility will use this technology.
Increase U.S. Energy Independence
As demand for clean, CO2-free energy like nuclear power continues to
increase both domestically and abroad, so too will the demand for reliable
uranium enrichment services.
The United States currently imports nearly 90 percent of its enriched
uranium. The Megatons-to-Megawatts program, formed through a treaty with
Russia, provides more than half of America's enriched uranium for fuel and
is set to expire in 2013. A new treaty is being developed but, once it is
completed, will fall significantly short of the U.S. demand for enriched
fuel.
The nation's first new nuclear power plants in more than three decades
are anticipated to start operating as early as 2015. These new plants will
require reliable uranium enrichment services. The demand for enrichment
services to fuel these plants will quickly outpace the available supply.
Simply put, U.S. demand is expected to increase at about the same time
that an important source of supply will disappear from the American market.
The discrepancy between future supply and demand will not be entirely due to
new reactors. Even without new reactors, demand for enrichment services will
outpace supply in the coming years, both in the United States and in other
countries. Consequently, we will need all of the output from the planned
AREVA facility and other anticipated domestic suppliers will be needed to
fill the U.S. supply gap.
Building an enrichment plant in the United States will help increase the
fuel supply and help decrease its level of energy dependency.
AREVA's proposed U.S. uranium enrichment facility draws on long-term
experience building and operating the Georges Besse I and II uranium
enrichment facilities in France. The Georges Besse I plant has provided 25
percent of the world's enriched uranium and has done so with an excellent
environmental and safety record.
AREVA: World Expert in Carbon-Free Energy Solutions
A world expert in CO2-free energy solutions, AREVA offers its customers
technological and innovative solutions for highly reliable nuclear and
renewable power generation and electricity transmission and distribution.
AREVA is the only company that has expertise in every activity in the
nuclear fuel lifecycle, including reactor construction.
AREVA bases their industrial strategy on three pillars of responsible
development: financial performance, respect for the environment and
commitment to employees and to the communities where it operates.
AREVA has a significant U.S. presence, employing more than 5,000 people
at 45 sites located in 20 states across the country. In addition to AREVA's
growing U.S. presence, the group employs more than 60,000 people in over 100
countries around the world.
SOURCE AREVA Inc.
CONTACT: Laurence Pernot, +1-301-652-9197, laurence.pernot@areva.com, or Thomas Smith, +1-704-805-2403, thomas.smith@framatome-anp.com, both of AREVA Inc.
This is a news service of Thomson Business Intelligence Service ©2006. This content is for your personal use only, subject to Terms and Conditions. No redistribution allowed.
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