Areva
Encyclopedia
AREVA is a French public
multinational
industrial conglomerate
headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie
, Paris
. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power
; it also has interests in other energy
projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome (now AREVA NP), Cogema (now AREVA NC
) and Technicatome (now AREVA TA). Its main shareholder
is the French public-sector company, the CEA
, which owns 78.9%. The CEA's brief is similar to that of the US Department of Energy. But the German company Siemens
also retains 34% of the shares of AREVA's subsidiary, AREVA NP, in charge of building the EPR
, an advanced Generation III+
PWR
nuclear reactor.
The parent company is incorporated under French law as a société anonyme (SA: public corporation) and is also recognized as a public limited company
in Britain and a corporation
in American jurisdictions. The French State (including the shares owned by the CEA) owns more than 90%. The corporate name AREVA is inspired by the Trappist Santa Maria de la Real monastery in Arevalo
in Spain. Luc Oursel is the Chairman of the Executive Board (equivalent to President and CEO).
According to the company official website, AREVA realized €13.16 billion in sales revenue in 2008 and €417 million in operating income. However, AREVA had 6.2 billion euros of net debt at the end of 2009. In June 2010, Standard & Poor's downgraded AREVA’s debt rating to BBB+
due to weakened profitability following a further €
400 million provision for the Olkiluoto-3 over-running European Pressurized Reactor
build. In July 2010, the French government authorised a 15% capital increase at AREVA, in which Électricité de France
(EDF) could raise its stake from 2.4% to 7%.
. It is the only company with a presence in each industrial activity linked to nuclear energy
: mining
, chemistry, enrichment, combustibles, services, engineering, nuclear propulsion and reactors, treatment, recycling, stabilization, and dismantling. AREVA also claims to offer technological solutions for CO₂
-free energy; and produces earth leakage circuit breaker
technologies.
Four main subsidiaries form the core of AREVA:
The major partners of AREVA include: Euriware
, STMicroelectronics
, Eramet
, and SAFRAN
.
AREVA is part of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
(GNEP) alliance, along with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency
(JAEA), Washington Group International
and BWX. GNEP is a plan initiated in 2006 to form an international partnership to reprocess
spent nuclear fuel
in a way that renders the plutonium
in it usable for nuclear fuel
but not for nuclear weapons.
, was named non-executive chairman of AREVA Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of AREVA.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
's government announced the privatization
of AREVA in 2003, but it was postponed several times, the French government opting finally for the privatization of GDF
and EDF
. At the end of October 2005, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin
announced that he had suspended the privatization process.
(PWR) technology and develop a bid for Chooz 1 in Belgium. Called Franco-Américaine de Constructions Atomiques (Framatome), the original company consisted of four engineers, one each from each of the parent companies. The original mission of the company was to act as a nuclear engineering firm and to develop a nuclear power plant that was to be identical to Westinghouse's existing product specifications. The first European plant of Westinghouse design was by then already under construction in Italy.
Meanwhile, the Électricité de France
(EDF), the French government-owned electric utility, in opposition to the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique
(CEA), maintained an interest in PWR technology. The Chooz contract offered the EDF, which joined with the Belgian electric utilities to call for the Chooz bids, the opportunity to explore PWR without offending French national pride in its homegrown GCR technology. By the beginning of 1960, only two bids remained in contention; midway through 1960 Framatome received informal permission to begin design work on the Chooz reactor. A formal contract was signed in September, 1961 for Framatome to deliver a turnkey system, that is, not only the reactor, but an entire, ready-to-use system of piping, cabling, supports, and other auxiliary systems, propelling Framatome from a nuclear engineering firm to an industrial contractor.
By 1981, France was pressing for even more control of Framatome. In January, Westinghouse agreed to sell its remaining 15 percent share to Creusot-Loire, which now owned 66 percent, and to cede complete marketing independence to Framatome. In February, the Belgian Baron Empain sold his 35 percent interest in Creusot-Loire to Paribas, a French government-linked banking group.
The May 1981 Socialist electoral victory in France intensified calls for greater government control of Framatome. A January 1982 company reorganization simultaneously strengthened French public and private control of the company by allowing Creusot-Loire to increase its share of the company while increasing CEA
say in the running of the firm.
In March 2010, AREVA announced on the design of a new reactor type capable of breaking down actinides created as a product of nuclear fission
.
's fifth reactor in Olkiluoto since 2005. The reactor, which is one of the first of the new, third generation reactors
(EPR - European Pressurized Reactor
), was planned to begin producing electricity in 2009, but the project has been delayed because of technical difficulties and quality problems. In August, 2007 the production start was postponed to 2010–2011. During the political debate in 1992, the official price estimate was 2500M euros. In 2004, a contracted fixed price was established as 3200M euros. In its 2006 Annual Report, AREVA recorded a writedown of 507M euros associated with the delay. A Jan 2008 financial press estimate pegged the overrun so far at 1.5 billion euros. In June 2010, cost overruns were estimated at 2.7 billion euros.
The second EPR in France is currently under construction at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant
. As of May 2009, this plant is also behind schedule and over-budget.
On 13 August 2007 the French newspaper Le Parisien
alleged that the Franco-Libyan civil nuclear power agreement
signed by President Nicolas Sarkozy
did not concern desalinization of sea water, as claimed by the French government, but instead focused in particular on selling the EPR to Libya, a contract potentially worth $3 billion. Le Parisien cited Philippe Delaune, deputy to the deputy director of international affairs for the CEA atomic agency
, which is the main share-holder in AREVA. Following allegations that the deal had been related to the release of the Bulgarian nurses
, the French Socialist Party, through the spokesperson Jean-Louis Bianco
, declared that this deal was "geopolitically irresponsible". The German government also denounced the agreement.
In November 2007, AREVA agreed to a €8 billion deal with the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group
to supply them with two EPRs in Taishan
, Guangdong
, China. Under the terms of the agreement, AREVA will also help operate the plant, including the reprocessing of spent fuel.
called Atmea
. Current plans are targeting power output of about 1,100 MWe, but the design could be scalable to produce different levels of power output to fit different size grids. Current plans call for the design to be ready for licensing applications by the end of 2009.
(BWR) design, provisionally known as SWR-1000, will henceforth be called Kerena. The Kerena design was developed from that of the Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant
by AREVA, with extensive German input and using operating experience from Generation II
BWRs to simplify systems engineering.
. This group represents four business lines: concentrated solar power, offshore wind power
, biomass
power, and hydrogen power storage and distribution. AREVA Renewables is based at the Paris, France, headquarters with business units in the United States, Brazil, and Germany.
, a provider of concentrated solar power solutions using Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector
(CLFR) technology. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, AREVA Solar operates a 5MWe
solar power plant in Bakersfield, California, at its Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant
development facility. AREVA Solar markets its solar boiler technology in three formats: as a standalone solar power plant generating 50MW+ of electricity, as a solar booster (20-50MW) adding solar steam power to an existing fossil-fuel power plant for carbon mitigation, and as an industrial steam provider for food, oil, desalination
and other processes. AREVA Solar’s boilers attain 750-degree F superheated steam and are the first and only solar boiler to receive S-Stamp certification by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
(ASME).
manufacturer Multibrid. In June 2010, AREVA purchased the remaining 49% and formed AREVA Wind. At its Bremerhaven, Germany, manufacturing facility, AREVA Wind produces 5MW wind turbines specifically designed and sealed for offshore environments. The company designs, manufactures, assembles and commissions its wind turbines, blades and masts, with existing placements being in the North Sea. To reduce weight and size, the company uses a hybrid drive system in the turbine. The turbine generates a maximum of 5MW of electricity in a maximum 39 feet/sec (12 meter/sec) wind. From the ocean’s surface to the top tip of the blade rotation, an AREVA Wind turbine assembly stands taller (616 feet / 188 meters) than the Washington Monument
(555 feet / 169 meters).
AREVA Wind
designs, assembles, installs and commissions 5-Megawatt wind turbines for offshore wind farms, a growing international industry. Each turbine can produce enough electricity to power 4,000 to 5,000 homes. Areva also designs and manufactures rotor blades through its subsidiary Areva Blades. Areva Wind is headquartered in Bremerhaven, Germany and Areva Blades is located in Stade, Germany.
power plants with 97 plants worldwide generating 2,900 MW of electricity. Biomass power plant locations include Brazil, Chile, Germany, India and Thailand. The bulk of the company’s operations are through its Brazilian subsidiary, AREVA Koblitz, which builds biomass power plants based on bagasse
(organic waste from sugar cane) and low power hydroelectric plants. In the United States, AREVA formed a partnership with Duke Energy
in September 2008, named ADAGE, to build and operate 55MW biomass power plants based on clean wood waste collected during sustainable forestry operations. The first biomass power plant is progressing through permitting in Mason County, Washington.
technology using water electrolysis powered by a clean energy source, such as solar power, to store power in a fuel cell
for distribution as electricity when needed. This storage and distribution technology is designed to mitigate the uncertainty of an intermittent energy source, like solar and wind renewable energy. AREVA supports ongoing research in this field through partnerships with the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (National Research Agency), the Horizon Hydrogen Power (H2E) program, and ELHYPSE, proprietary research performed with academic partners CEA and Risoe.
. In 2006, Fortune Magazine reported that AREVA was the "Most Admired Global Energy Company."
AREVA has partnered with engineering contractors to aid in the reconstruction of Iraq
by manufacturing equipment to construct electrical substations.
In June 2007, AREVA announced plans to acquire the African uranium mining company UraMin for a final price of about 2.5 billion USD. This move further beefs up AREVA's nuclear business, and AREVA plans to increase production to 9 million kilograms of yellowcake
by 2012.
AREVA has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
for the establishment of a joint venture for their next reactor design.
AREVA owns two mines in Arlit
, Niger
, where it employs 1,600 people; Niger is the world's fifth largest uranium producer. Nigerien uranium accounts for 30% of French consumption and 32% of Niger's exports
, but less than 5% of Niger's GDP
. The increase in the cost of uranium on world markets in 2006 (more than 46%) will enable Niger to triple its revenues sourced from AREVA. On 25 July 2007, the CEO of AREVA-Niger, Dominique Pin, was expelled from Niger (although he was in Paris at the time) on charges of supporting the Tuareg Rebellion
. According to Le Canard enchaîné, this move from Seyni Oumarou
's government was motivated by negotiations concerning the uranium trade agreement, which was finally renewed on 1 August 2007. Furthermore, Laouel Kader Mahamadou, who had resigned from his functions as secretary general of the Nigerien government to take a consulting job with AREVA-Niger, was asked by the Nigerien DGSE to remain in Niger instead of flying to France for an integration workshop until a "clarification of the situation" could be obtained.
The population of Niger was exposed to a serious famine
in 2005. AREVA donated 130,000 euros in June 2005 to the food crisis coordination group of Niger, and 120,000 euros in July in the form of two planes loaded with food and organized by Bernard Kouchner
's Réussir NGO. According to Le Canard Enchaîné, this aid amounted to 0.06% of AREVA's annual profits of 428 million euros.
In November 2009 Greenpeace released a report indicating that two villages near AREVA's mining operations in Niger have dangerously high levels of radiation.
, Saskatchewan
. AREVA Resources Canada has offices and operations in Saskatoon, La Ronge, McClean Lake, Cluff Lake, and in Baker Lake, Nunavut.
McClean Lake
Located over 700 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, McClean Lake is AREVA Resources' flagship operation. Open pit mining began in 1995 and suspended with the completion of Sue orebodies in 2008. The JEB mill was recently expanded and upgraded to process ore from other projects, such as Cigar Lake. The McClean Lake operation meets ISO 14001 standards for environmental management, and OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety management.
Cluff Lake
In 2002, the Cluff Lake mine reached the end of its uranium production. The Cluff Lake mine produced 62 million pounds of yellowcake over a 22 year period. Since mining ceased, AREVA Resources has implemented a decommissioning program to rehabilitate the site. Most of the decommissioning was completed in 2006 after two years of work to fill the open pits, demolish the mill, cover the tailings management area, and reslope and cover waste rock piles. Over 800,000 trees have been planted in this effort. The Cluff Lake operation meets ISO 14001 standards for environmental management; this is the first decommissioning effort to ever receive this certification.
, while AREVA NP Inc.'s North American Headquarters are located in Lynchburg, VA.
In February 2002, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
announced the Nuclear Power 2010 Program, which included plans for two EPRs. On 15 September 2005 AREVA and Constellation Energy
of Baltimore announced a new joint venture
called UniStar Nuclear that will market the commercial EPR in the US.
In line with AREVA's "strategic business plan of expanding the US commercial nuclear infrastructure", in 2007 AREVA announced plans to construct a centrifuge enrichment plant in the United States. The proposed 3 million separative work unit (SWU) enrichment plant could begin operation in 2013 and reach full capacity by 2017. AREVA has confirmed the potential site for this plant will be 30 kilometres west of Idaho Falls
, near the US Department of Energy's (DoE's) Idaho National Laboratory. The project is likely to cost in the region of $2 billion and will provide uranium enrichment services to US nuclear plant operators using advanced proven centrifuge technology developed by URENCO and the Enrichment Technology Company Ltd (ETC), an AREVA/URENCO joint venture.
Jintao.
``France wants to build a complete partnership for the future with China, Sarkozy said today in Beijing during a joint briefing with Chinese President Hu Jintao. ``China's spectacular development is a chance for the world.
French, American and Russian suppliers have been vying for contracts in China, which plans to build as many as 32 nuclear plants by 2020 to meet surging power demands while cutting emissions and reducing reliance on imported oil. U.S. and French politicians have been lobbying Beijing hard on behalf of their companies.
"When you look at China's energy problems, nuclear energy is not the whole answer, but it is part of the answer," AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon told a news conference.
The deal allows AREVA to "consolidate its presence in one of the most dynamic markets in the world with enormous potential," Lauvergeon said.
State-run AREVA said the contract with state-run China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp. was a record for the French company. The third-generation pressurized water reactors, designed by AREVA's Framatome subsidiary, would boost CGNPC's output by 3,400 megawatts, AREVA said earlier.
The contract also calls on AREVA to provide uranium to fuel the reactors through 2026. The reactors are to be built by 2013-2014 in the city of Taishan in Guangdong province, an export manufacturing powerhouse with heavy demand for power and high levels of industrial pollution.
design, which is being quickly deployed with fifteen units under construction as at June 2010.
Some intellectual property rights are retained by AREVA, which limits CPR-1000 export potential for China. AREVA is reported to be considering whether it should market the cheaper, less sophisticated, CPR-1000 alongside the EPR, for countries that are new to nuclear power.
AREVA T&D employs 380 people in Poland.
, such as designing the nuclear reactor for the French Barracuda class submarine.
One of AREVA's subsidiaries, Euriware
(founded in 1991) specializes in computer engineering
, and employs 2,100 persons on 14 different sites. AREVA also owns 11% of STMicroelectronics
, 26,25% of Eramet, and 8,45% of Safran
. In May 2005 it sold all of its stakes in Assystem
, as well as FCI
in October 2005 (sold to the private equity
firm Bain Capital
).
CERCA, a subsidiary of AREVA, is also involved in TRIGA
International, established in 1996 with the US firm General Atomics
.
AREVA is also a corporate member of the Bruegel think tank.
for rigging
EU electricity markets through a cartel
involving 11 companies, including ABB, Alstom
, Fuji
, Hitachi Japan, AE Power Systems, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Schneider
, Siemens
, Toshiba
and VA Tech ELIN. According to the Commission, "between 1988 and 2004, the companies rigged bids for procurement contracts, fixed prices, allocated projects to each other, shared markets and exchanged commercially important and confidential information." Siemens was given a fine of €396 million, more than half of the total, for its alleged leadership role in the cartel.
AREVA is not accused of any cartel involvement other than through the acquisition of an Alstom unit in January 2004. "This subsidiary was acquired by the Areva group towards the end of the infringement, in January 2004. The parent entities of the Areva group share a joint liability with that subsidiary for the period after its acquisition." "A few months before the cartel ended Alstom sold the unit involved to Areva, which knew nothing of the cartel. It [Areva] and Alstom have joint liability for 53.6 million, which they must decide how to split."
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes
declared that "The commission has put an end to a cartel which has cheated public utility companies and consumers for more than 16 years".
television
ad spots created by French design group H5, who also created the similar music video for Röyksopp
's "Remind Me". The ads explained how the generation and distribution of nuclear power works. The ads featured the song "Funkytown
" by Lipps Inc..
In the French economic paper "challenges" Anne Lauvergeon, chairman, declared the 10th July 2008: "Uranium is a main part of our success. '(...)'. So in China, we sold two nuclear parts, plus 35% of our uranium production. This is our integrated business model."
, announced on 2008-05-06 that it will seek all necessary approval to build a uranium
enrichment
facility in Bonneville County, Idaho
, about twenty miles west of Idaho Falls and near the Idaho National Laboratory
.
On 2008-08-04, the AREVA group announced its proposed gas centrifuge enrichment facility will be named the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility (EREF).
On 4 February 2009, AREVA signed a MOU to supply two to six nuclear reactors to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. The deal is thought to be worth around 12.3 billion dollars (600 billion rupees), an all-time record for the company surpassing the 8-billion Euro (11.1 billion dollars) deal signed with China a few years earlier. They are also likely to supply fuel for the project which is intended for the western Indian state of Maharashtra
and carry out the construction of a 110/11KV Substation for Infopark at Cherthala in Kerala.
Government-owned corporation
A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
multinational
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
industrial conglomerate
Conglomerate (company)
A conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
headquartered in the Tour Areva in Courbevoie
Courbevoie
Courbevoie is a commune located very close to the centre of Paris, France. The centre of Courbevoie is situated 2 kilometres from the outer limits of Paris and 8.2 km...
, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. AREVA is mainly known for nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
; it also has interests in other energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome (now AREVA NP), Cogema (now AREVA NC
Areva NC
Areva NC, formerly Cogema is a French company, created in 1976 from the production division of the French government's CEA It is an industrial group active in all stages of the uranium fuel cycle, including uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing, and recycling...
) and Technicatome (now AREVA TA). Its main shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
is the French public-sector company, the CEA
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
The Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
, which owns 78.9%. The CEA's brief is similar to that of the US Department of Energy. But the German company Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
also retains 34% of the shares of AREVA's subsidiary, AREVA NP, in charge of building the EPR
European Pressurized Reactor
The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...
, an advanced Generation III+
Generation III reactor
A generation III reactor is a development of any of the generation II nuclear reactor designs incorporating evolutionary improvements in design developed during the lifetime of the generation II reactor designs...
PWR
Pressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
nuclear reactor.
The parent company is incorporated under French law as a société anonyme (SA: public corporation) and is also recognized as a public limited company
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
in Britain and a corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
in American jurisdictions. The French State (including the shares owned by the CEA) owns more than 90%. The corporate name AREVA is inspired by the Trappist Santa Maria de la Real monastery in Arevalo
Arévalo
Arévalo is a municipality in Spain, it is situated in the province of Ávila and is part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The name came from Celtic word arevalon, meaning "place near the wall."-Regional importance:...
in Spain. Luc Oursel is the Chairman of the Executive Board (equivalent to President and CEO).
According to the company official website, AREVA realized €13.16 billion in sales revenue in 2008 and €417 million in operating income. However, AREVA had 6.2 billion euros of net debt at the end of 2009. In June 2010, Standard & Poor's downgraded AREVA’s debt rating to BBB+
Bond credit rating
In investment, the bond credit rating assesses the credit worthiness of a corporation's or government debt issues. It is analogous to credit ratings for individuals.-Table:...
due to weakened profitability following a further €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
400 million provision for the Olkiluoto-3 over-running European Pressurized Reactor
European Pressurized Reactor
The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...
build. In July 2010, the French government authorised a 15% capital increase at AREVA, in which Électricité de France
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
(EDF) could raise its stake from 2.4% to 7%.
Energy company
AREVA is a world-leading company in nuclear energyNuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
. It is the only company with a presence in each industrial activity linked to nuclear energy
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
: mining
Uranium mining
Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. The worldwide production of uranium in 2009 amounted to 50,572 tonnes, of which 27% was mined in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia are the top three producers and together account for 63% of world uranium...
, chemistry, enrichment, combustibles, services, engineering, nuclear propulsion and reactors, treatment, recycling, stabilization, and dismantling. AREVA also claims to offer technological solutions for CO₂
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
-free energy; and produces earth leakage circuit breaker
Earth leakage circuit breaker
An Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker is a safety device used in electrical installations with high earth impedance to prevent shock. It detects small stray voltages on the metal enclosures of electrical equipment, and interrupts the circuit if a dangerous votlage is detected...
technologies.
Four main subsidiaries form the core of AREVA:
- AREVA NP (formerly Framatome ANP) — Nuclear Power: develops and builds nuclear reactors; SiemensSiemens AGSiemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
had a 34% stake in AREVA NP until April 2011.
- AREVA NCAreva NCAreva NC, formerly Cogema is a French company, created in 1976 from the production division of the French government's CEA It is an industrial group active in all stages of the uranium fuel cycle, including uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing, and recycling...
(formerly Cogema) — Nuclear Cycle: covers the whole nuclear fuel cycle, from mining to waste disposal. Owns EurodifEurodifEurodif, which means European Gaseous Diffusion Uranium Enrichment Consortium, is a subsidiary of the French company AREVA which operates a uranium enrichment plant established at the Tricastin Nuclear Power Center in Pierrelatte in Drôme... - AREVA TA (formerly Technicatome) : develops and builds research reactors and reactors for the naval propulsion
- AREVA T&D — Transmission and Distribution: power transmission and distribution. It was bought from Alstom on 9 January 2004. Currently, AREVA T&D Division has been sold to ALSTOM and Schneider Electric.
The major partners of AREVA include: Euriware
Euriware
EURIWARE is a French company that provides advanced Consultancy and IT services in the spheres of energy, industry and defense.The core business of EURIWARE includes consultancy, systems integration and outsourcing.EURIWARE is fully owned by AREVA group, a French energy corporation mainly known as...
, STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is an Italian-French electronics and semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.While STMicroelectronics corporate headquarters and the headquarters for EMEA region are based in Geneva, the holding company, STMicroelectronics N.V. is registered in Amsterdam,...
, Eramet
Eramet
Eramet is a French multinational mining and metallurgy company, listed on the Euronext Paris exchange under the symbol ERA.The company produces non-ferrous metals and derivatives, nickel alloys and superalloys, and high-performance special steels....
, and SAFRAN
SAFRAN
Safran is a French conglomerate involved in defense, aerospace propulsion and equipment, and security. It is the result of a merger between the propulsion and aerospace equipment group SNECMA and the defense conglomerate SAGEM. Its headquarters are located in Paris.The name Safran, literally...
.
AREVA is part of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
Global Nuclear Energy Partnership
The International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation formerly the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership began as a U.S. proposal, announced by United States Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman on February 6, 2006, to form an international partnership to promote the use of nuclear power and close...
(GNEP) alliance, along with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Japan Atomic Energy Agency
The was formed October 1, 2005 by a merger of two previous semi-governmental organizations. While it inherited the activities of both PNC and JAERI, it also inherited the nickname of JAERI, "Genken" 原研, an abbreviated word for "nuclear research"....
(JAEA), Washington Group International
Washington Group International
Washington Group International was an American corporation which provided integrated engineering, construction and management services to businesses and governments around the world. Based in Boise, Idaho, it had approximately 25,000 employees working in over 40 states and more than 30 countries...
and BWX. GNEP is a plan initiated in 2006 to form an international partnership to reprocess
Nuclear reprocessing
Nuclear reprocessing technology was developed to chemically separate and recover fissionable plutonium from irradiated nuclear fuel. Reprocessing serves multiple purposes, whose relative importance has changed over time. Originally reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing...
spent nuclear fuel
Spent nuclear fuel
Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor...
in a way that renders the plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
in it usable for nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel
Nuclear fuel is a material that can be 'consumed' by fission or fusion to derive nuclear energy. Nuclear fuels are the most dense sources of energy available...
but not for nuclear weapons.
Administration
The actions of the Chairman of the Executive Board, Anne Lauvergeon, are subject to considerable oversight by both the board of directors and the supervisory board. In 2006, Spencer Abraham, the former U.S. Secretary of EnergyUnited States Secretary of Energy
The United States Secretary of Energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was formed on October 1, 1977 with the creation of the Department of Energy when President Jimmy...
, was named non-executive chairman of AREVA Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of AREVA.
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Jean-Pierre Raffarin
Jean-Pierre Raffarin is a French conservative politician and senator for Vienne.Jean-Pierre Raffarin served as the Prime Minister of France from 6 May 2002 to 31 May 2005, resigning after France's rejection of the referendum on the European Union draft constitution. However, after Raffarin...
's government announced the privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
of AREVA in 2003, but it was postponed several times, the French government opting finally for the privatization of GDF
Gaz de France
Gaz de France was a French company which produced, transported and sold natural gas around the world, especially in France, its main market. The company was also particularly active in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other European countries. Through its part-owned Belgian subsidiary SPE...
and EDF
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
. At the end of October 2005, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....
announced that he had suspended the privatization process.
History
AREVA has its roots in Framatome, which was founded in 1958 by several companies of the French industrial giant The Schneider Group along with Empain, Merlin Gérin, and the American Westinghouse, in order to license Westinghouse's pressurized water reactorPressurized water reactor
Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors...
(PWR) technology and develop a bid for Chooz 1 in Belgium. Called Franco-Américaine de Constructions Atomiques (Framatome), the original company consisted of four engineers, one each from each of the parent companies. The original mission of the company was to act as a nuclear engineering firm and to develop a nuclear power plant that was to be identical to Westinghouse's existing product specifications. The first European plant of Westinghouse design was by then already under construction in Italy.
Meanwhile, the Électricité de France
Électricité de France
Électricité de France S.A. is the second largest French utility company. Headquartered in Paris, France, with €65.2 billion in revenues in 2010, EDF operates a diverse portfolio of 120,000+ megawatts of generation capacity in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.EDF is one of...
(EDF), the French government-owned electric utility, in opposition to the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
The Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
(CEA), maintained an interest in PWR technology. The Chooz contract offered the EDF, which joined with the Belgian electric utilities to call for the Chooz bids, the opportunity to explore PWR without offending French national pride in its homegrown GCR technology. By the beginning of 1960, only two bids remained in contention; midway through 1960 Framatome received informal permission to begin design work on the Chooz reactor. A formal contract was signed in September, 1961 for Framatome to deliver a turnkey system, that is, not only the reactor, but an entire, ready-to-use system of piping, cabling, supports, and other auxiliary systems, propelling Framatome from a nuclear engineering firm to an industrial contractor.
By 1981, France was pressing for even more control of Framatome. In January, Westinghouse agreed to sell its remaining 15 percent share to Creusot-Loire, which now owned 66 percent, and to cede complete marketing independence to Framatome. In February, the Belgian Baron Empain sold his 35 percent interest in Creusot-Loire to Paribas, a French government-linked banking group.
The May 1981 Socialist electoral victory in France intensified calls for greater government control of Framatome. A January 1982 company reorganization simultaneously strengthened French public and private control of the company by allowing Creusot-Loire to increase its share of the company while increasing CEA
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
The Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
say in the running of the firm.
In March 2010, AREVA announced on the design of a new reactor type capable of breaking down actinides created as a product of nuclear fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
.
Nuclear reactor designs
EPR
AREVA has been constructing FinlandNuclear power in Finland
As of 2008, Finland's nuclear power program has four nuclear reactors in two power plants. The first of these came into operation in 1977. In 2007 they provided 28.4% of Finland's electricity. They are among the world's most productive, with average capacity factors of 94% in the 1990s...
's fifth reactor in Olkiluoto since 2005. The reactor, which is one of the first of the new, third generation reactors
Generation III reactor
A generation III reactor is a development of any of the generation II nuclear reactor designs incorporating evolutionary improvements in design developed during the lifetime of the generation II reactor designs...
(EPR - European Pressurized Reactor
European Pressurized Reactor
The EPR is a third generation pressurized water reactor design. It has been designed and developed mainly by Framatome , Electricité de France in France, and Siemens AG in Germany...
), was planned to begin producing electricity in 2009, but the project has been delayed because of technical difficulties and quality problems. In August, 2007 the production start was postponed to 2010–2011. During the political debate in 1992, the official price estimate was 2500M euros. In 2004, a contracted fixed price was established as 3200M euros. In its 2006 Annual Report, AREVA recorded a writedown of 507M euros associated with the delay. A Jan 2008 financial press estimate pegged the overrun so far at 1.5 billion euros. In June 2010, cost overruns were estimated at 2.7 billion euros.
The second EPR in France is currently under construction at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant
Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant
The Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant is located at Flamanville, Manche, France on the Cotentin Peninsula.It houses two pressurized water reactors that produce 1300 MWe each and came into service in 1986 and 1987, respectively. It produced 18.9 TWh in 2005, which amounted to 4% of the electricity...
. As of May 2009, this plant is also behind schedule and over-budget.
On 13 August 2007 the French newspaper Le Parisien
Le Parisien
Le Parisien is a French daily newspaper covering both international and national news, and local news of Paris and its suburbs. It was established as Le Parisien libéré by Émilien Amaury in 1944, and the name was changed to the current one in 1986...
alleged that the Franco-Libyan civil nuclear power agreement
Libya and nuclear technology
Libya possesses chemical weapons and ballistic missiles and previously pursued nuclear weapons under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi. On 19 December 2003, Gaddafi announced that Libya would voluntarily eliminate all materials, equipment and programs that could lead to internationally proscribed...
signed by President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
did not concern desalinization of sea water, as claimed by the French government, but instead focused in particular on selling the EPR to Libya, a contract potentially worth $3 billion. Le Parisien cited Philippe Delaune, deputy to the deputy director of international affairs for the CEA atomic agency
Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique
The Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives or CEA, is a French “public establishment related to industrial and commercial activities” whose mission is to develop all applications of nuclear power, both civilian and military...
, which is the main share-holder in AREVA. Following allegations that the deal had been related to the release of the Bulgarian nurses
HIV trial in Libya
The HIV trial in Libya concerns the trials, appeals and eventual release of six foreign medical workers charged with conspiring to deliberately infect over 400 children with HIV in 1998, causing an epidemic at El-Fatih Children's Hospital in Benghazi, Libya.The defendants were a Palestinian...
, the French Socialist Party, through the spokesperson Jean-Louis Bianco
Jean-Louis Bianco
Jean-Louis Bianco is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the first constituency of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, and is a member of the Socialist Party, which sits with the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche group in the Assembly.-External links:...
, declared that this deal was "geopolitically irresponsible". The German government also denounced the agreement.
In November 2007, AREVA agreed to a €8 billion deal with the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group is a major nuclear power corporation under the SASAC of the State Council.CGNPG currently owns Guangdong Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station and Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station Phase I with nearly 4000 MWe of installed generating capacity, and there are six new...
to supply them with two EPRs in Taishan
Taishan
Taishan is a coastal county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. The city is part of the Greater Taishan Region....
, Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
, China. Under the terms of the agreement, AREVA will also help operate the plant, including the reprocessing of spent fuel.
Atmea I
The Atmea I is a new evolutionary reactor design targeted towards both developed and developing economies. It will be developed through a joint venture with MitsubishiMitsubishi
The Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
called Atmea
Atmea
Atmea is a joint venture between Mitsubishi and Areva that will develop, market, license and sell a new generation III pressurized water reactor. A memorandum of understanding between the two companies effectively creating the entity was signed October 19, 2006 and the name of the joint venture...
. Current plans are targeting power output of about 1,100 MWe, but the design could be scalable to produce different levels of power output to fit different size grids. Current plans call for the design to be ready for licensing applications by the end of 2009.
Kerena
AREVA has announced that its 1,250 MWe Generation III+ boiling water reactorBoiling water reactor
The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor...
(BWR) design, provisionally known as SWR-1000, will henceforth be called Kerena. The Kerena design was developed from that of the Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant
Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant
The Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant is the highest-output nuclear power station in Germany, producing 2 × 1344 megawatts. It is located in Gundremmingen, district of Günzburg, Bavaria and is operated by Kernkraftwerk Gundremmingen GmbH, a joint operation of RWE Power AG, based in Essen and E.ON...
by AREVA, with extensive German input and using operating experience from Generation II
Generation II reactor
A generation II reactor is a design classification for a nuclear reactor, and refers to the class of commercial reactors built up to the end of the 1990s...
BWRs to simplify systems engineering.
Renewable energy
AREVA created the global AREVA Renewables group in 2006 as an expansion of its clean energy portfolio with renewable energyRenewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
. This group represents four business lines: concentrated solar power, offshore wind power
Wind power
Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....
, biomass
Biomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
power, and hydrogen power storage and distribution. AREVA Renewables is based at the Paris, France, headquarters with business units in the United States, Brazil, and Germany.
Concentrated Solar Power
In Feb 2010, AREVA formed AREVA Solar with its acquisition of US-based AusraAusra (company)
Ausra Inc. is a company that provides solar thermal power, steam and energy systems for industrial processes and utility-scale electricity generation...
, a provider of concentrated solar power solutions using Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector
Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector
A compact linear Fresnel reflector – also referred to as a concentrating linear Fresnel reflector - is a specific type of linear Fresnel reflector technology. Linear Fresnel reflectors use long, thin segments of mirrors to focus sunlight onto a fixed absorber located at a common focal point of...
(CLFR) technology. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, AREVA Solar operates a 5MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...
solar power plant in Bakersfield, California, at its Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant
Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant
The 5 megawatt Kimberlina Solar Thermal Energy Plant in Bakersfield, California is the first commercial solar thermal power plant to be built by AREVA Solar, formerly Ausra. The Kimberlina renewable energy solar boiler uses Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector technology to generate superheated steam...
development facility. AREVA Solar markets its solar boiler technology in three formats: as a standalone solar power plant generating 50MW+ of electricity, as a solar booster (20-50MW) adding solar steam power to an existing fossil-fuel power plant for carbon mitigation, and as an industrial steam provider for food, oil, desalination
Desalination
Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water...
and other processes. AREVA Solar’s boilers attain 750-degree F superheated steam and are the first and only solar boiler to receive S-Stamp certification by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers is a professional body, specifically an engineering society, focused on mechanical engineering....
(ASME).
Offshore Wind Power
In 2007 AREVA purchased 51% of offshore wind turbineWind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
manufacturer Multibrid. In June 2010, AREVA purchased the remaining 49% and formed AREVA Wind. At its Bremerhaven, Germany, manufacturing facility, AREVA Wind produces 5MW wind turbines specifically designed and sealed for offshore environments. The company designs, manufactures, assembles and commissions its wind turbines, blades and masts, with existing placements being in the North Sea. To reduce weight and size, the company uses a hybrid drive system in the turbine. The turbine generates a maximum of 5MW of electricity in a maximum 39 feet/sec (12 meter/sec) wind. From the ocean’s surface to the top tip of the blade rotation, an AREVA Wind turbine assembly stands taller (616 feet / 188 meters) than the Washington Monument
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...
(555 feet / 169 meters).
AREVA Wind
AREVA Wind
Areva Wind is a subsidiary of Areva, a French nuclear company. The company designs, assembles, installs and commissions 5-Megawatt wind turbines for offshore wind farms, a growing international industry. Each turbine can produce enough electricity to power 4,000 to 5,000 homes. Areva also designs...
designs, assembles, installs and commissions 5-Megawatt wind turbines for offshore wind farms, a growing international industry. Each turbine can produce enough electricity to power 4,000 to 5,000 homes. Areva also designs and manufactures rotor blades through its subsidiary Areva Blades. Areva Wind is headquartered in Bremerhaven, Germany and Areva Blades is located in Stade, Germany.
Biomass Power
AREVA is the global leader in the production and operation of biomassBiomass
Biomass, as a renewable energy source, is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. As an energy source, biomass can either be used directly, or converted into other energy products such as biofuel....
power plants with 97 plants worldwide generating 2,900 MW of electricity. Biomass power plant locations include Brazil, Chile, Germany, India and Thailand. The bulk of the company’s operations are through its Brazilian subsidiary, AREVA Koblitz, which builds biomass power plants based on bagasse
Bagasse
Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice. It is currently used as a biofuel and as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials....
(organic waste from sugar cane) and low power hydroelectric plants. In the United States, AREVA formed a partnership with Duke Energy
Duke Energy
Duke Energy , headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an energy company with assets in the United States, Canada and Latin America.-Overview:...
in September 2008, named ADAGE, to build and operate 55MW biomass power plants based on clean wood waste collected during sustainable forestry operations. The first biomass power plant is progressing through permitting in Mason County, Washington.
Hydrogen Power Storage and Distribution
AREVA is developing a hydrogen productionHydrogen production
Hydrogen production is the family of industrial methods for generating hydrogen. Currently the dominant technology for direct production is steam reforming from hydrocarbons. Many other methods are known including electrolysis and thermolysis...
technology using water electrolysis powered by a clean energy source, such as solar power, to store power in a fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
for distribution as electricity when needed. This storage and distribution technology is designed to mitigate the uncertainty of an intermittent energy source, like solar and wind renewable energy. AREVA supports ongoing research in this field through partnerships with the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (National Research Agency), the Horizon Hydrogen Power (H2E) program, and ELHYPSE, proprietary research performed with academic partners CEA and Risoe.
Worldwide presence
Worldwide, the AREVA group has an industrial presence in 40 countries and its commercial network reaches more than 100 countries. It employs 58,000 people and has consolidated sales revenue of €10.863 billion. It is a member of the World Nuclear AssociationWorld Nuclear Association
The World Nuclear Association , formerly the Uranium Institute, is an international organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the many companies that comprise the global nuclear industry...
. In 2006, Fortune Magazine reported that AREVA was the "Most Admired Global Energy Company."
AREVA has partnered with engineering contractors to aid in the reconstruction of Iraq
Reconstruction of Iraq
Investment in post-2003 Iraq refers to international efforts to rebuild the infrastructure of Iraq since the Iraq War in 2003.Along with the economic reform of Iraq, international projects have been implemented to repair and upgrade Iraqi water and sewage treatment plants, electricity production,...
by manufacturing equipment to construct electrical substations.
In June 2007, AREVA announced plans to acquire the African uranium mining company UraMin for a final price of about 2.5 billion USD. This move further beefs up AREVA's nuclear business, and AREVA plans to increase production to 9 million kilograms of yellowcake
Yellowcake
Yellowcake is a kind of uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions, in an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores. Yellowcake concentrates are prepared by various extraction and refining methods, depending on the types of ores...
by 2012.
AREVA has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...
for the establishment of a joint venture for their next reactor design.
Niger (mines)
Arlit
Arlit is an industrial town and capital of the Arlit Department of the Agadez Region of northern-central Niger, built between the Sahara desert and the eastern edge of the Aïr mountains. It is 200 km south by road from the border with Algeria...
, Niger
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, where it employs 1,600 people; Niger is the world's fifth largest uranium producer. Nigerien uranium accounts for 30% of French consumption and 32% of Niger's exports
Economy of Niger
The economy of Niger is based largely upon internal markets, subsistence agriculture, and the export of raw commodities: food stuffs to neighbors and raw minerals to world markets. Niger, is a landlocked Sub-Sahara African nation, and over the past two decades has consistently been ranked near or...
, but less than 5% of Niger's GDP
Gross domestic product
Gross domestic product refers to the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP per capita is often considered an indicator of a country's standard of living....
. The increase in the cost of uranium on world markets in 2006 (more than 46%) will enable Niger to triple its revenues sourced from AREVA. On 25 July 2007, the CEO of AREVA-Niger, Dominique Pin, was expelled from Niger (although he was in Paris at the time) on charges of supporting the Tuareg Rebellion
Tuareg Rebellion
The Tuareg Rebellion was an uprising by various Tuareg groups in Niger and Mali with the aim of achieving autonomy or forming their own nation-state. The insurgency occurred in a period following the regional famine of the 1980s and subsequent refugee crisis, and a time of generalised political...
. According to Le Canard enchaîné, this move from Seyni Oumarou
Seyni Oumarou
Seyni Oumarou is a Nigerien politician who was Prime Minister of Niger from June 2007 to September 2009 and President of the National Assembly of Niger from November 2009 to February 2010. He is from the west of the country and is a member of the Djerma ethnic group...
's government was motivated by negotiations concerning the uranium trade agreement, which was finally renewed on 1 August 2007. Furthermore, Laouel Kader Mahamadou, who had resigned from his functions as secretary general of the Nigerien government to take a consulting job with AREVA-Niger, was asked by the Nigerien DGSE to remain in Niger instead of flying to France for an integration workshop until a "clarification of the situation" could be obtained.
The population of Niger was exposed to a serious famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
in 2005. AREVA donated 130,000 euros in June 2005 to the food crisis coordination group of Niger, and 120,000 euros in July in the form of two planes loaded with food and organized by Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner
Bernard Kouchner is a French politician, diplomat, and doctor. He is co-founder of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde...
's Réussir NGO. According to Le Canard Enchaîné, this aid amounted to 0.06% of AREVA's annual profits of 428 million euros.
In November 2009 Greenpeace released a report indicating that two villages near AREVA's mining operations in Niger have dangerously high levels of radiation.
Canada
AREVA Resources Canada is a uranium mining, milling, and exploration company based in SaskatoonSaskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
. AREVA Resources Canada has offices and operations in Saskatoon, La Ronge, McClean Lake, Cluff Lake, and in Baker Lake, Nunavut.
McClean Lake
McClean Lake mine
The McClean Lake mine is a uranium mine and milling operation located west of Wollaston Lake, about 700 kilometres north of Saskatoon, in the Athabasca Basin region of Saskatchewan, Canada. The McClean ore body was discovered in 1979, followed by the discovery of the JEB ore body in 1982...
Located over 700 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, McClean Lake is AREVA Resources' flagship operation. Open pit mining began in 1995 and suspended with the completion of Sue orebodies in 2008. The JEB mill was recently expanded and upgraded to process ore from other projects, such as Cigar Lake. The McClean Lake operation meets ISO 14001 standards for environmental management, and OHSAS 18001 for occupational health and safety management.
Cluff Lake
Cluff Lake mine
Cluff Lake mine, located about from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at the northern terminus of Saskatchewan Highway 955, is owned and operated by AREVA Resources Canada, formerly COGEMA Resources. The mine ceased uranium production at the end of 2002 when the ore reserves were depleted...
In 2002, the Cluff Lake mine reached the end of its uranium production. The Cluff Lake mine produced 62 million pounds of yellowcake over a 22 year period. Since mining ceased, AREVA Resources has implemented a decommissioning program to rehabilitate the site. Most of the decommissioning was completed in 2006 after two years of work to fill the open pits, demolish the mill, cover the tailings management area, and reslope and cover waste rock piles. Over 800,000 trees have been planted in this effort. The Cluff Lake operation meets ISO 14001 standards for environmental management; this is the first decommissioning effort to ever receive this certification.
South Korea
In 2007, AREVA signed a ten year deal with the South Korean public company KHNP to enrich uranium in its forthcoming Georges Besse II enrichment plant. The deal is worth over 1 billion euros.United States
In the USA, AREVA is present in 40 locations across 20 states and employs 5,000 people. AREVA supplies network products to two-thirds of all US utilities. Moreover, AREVA was ranked the No 1 US supplier in nuclear energy products and services, in Energy Management Systems and in Energy Market Systems. AREVA NC Inc.'s headquarters are located in Bethesda, MDBethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, while AREVA NP Inc.'s North American Headquarters are located in Lynchburg, VA.
In February 2002, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham
Spencer Abraham
Edmund Spencer Abraham is a former United States Senator from Michigan. He served as the tenth United States Secretary of Energy, serving under President George W. Bush. Abraham is one of the founders of the Federalist Society....
announced the Nuclear Power 2010 Program, which included plans for two EPRs. On 15 September 2005 AREVA and Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy
Constellation Energy, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is an energy producer, trader, and distributor. The company operates over 35 power plants in 11 states under its operating company Constellation Commodities Group and/or Constellation Generation Group...
of Baltimore announced a new joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
called UniStar Nuclear that will market the commercial EPR in the US.
In line with AREVA's "strategic business plan of expanding the US commercial nuclear infrastructure", in 2007 AREVA announced plans to construct a centrifuge enrichment plant in the United States. The proposed 3 million separative work unit (SWU) enrichment plant could begin operation in 2013 and reach full capacity by 2017. AREVA has confirmed the potential site for this plant will be 30 kilometres west of Idaho Falls
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Idaho Falls is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, United States, and the largest city in Eastern Idaho. As of the 2010 census, the population of Idaho Falls was 56,813, with a metro population of 130,374....
, near the US Department of Energy's (DoE's) Idaho National Laboratory. The project is likely to cost in the region of $2 billion and will provide uranium enrichment services to US nuclear plant operators using advanced proven centrifuge technology developed by URENCO and the Enrichment Technology Company Ltd (ETC), an AREVA/URENCO joint venture.
China
In China AREVA won an 8 billion euro ($11.9 billion) agreement to build nuclear reactors, a record for the French company. The long-expected announcement came at the start of formal talks in Beijing between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Chinese counterpart, HuJintao.
``France wants to build a complete partnership for the future with China, Sarkozy said today in Beijing during a joint briefing with Chinese President Hu Jintao. ``China's spectacular development is a chance for the world.
French, American and Russian suppliers have been vying for contracts in China, which plans to build as many as 32 nuclear plants by 2020 to meet surging power demands while cutting emissions and reducing reliance on imported oil. U.S. and French politicians have been lobbying Beijing hard on behalf of their companies.
"When you look at China's energy problems, nuclear energy is not the whole answer, but it is part of the answer," AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon told a news conference.
The deal allows AREVA to "consolidate its presence in one of the most dynamic markets in the world with enormous potential," Lauvergeon said.
State-run AREVA said the contract with state-run China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp. was a record for the French company. The third-generation pressurized water reactors, designed by AREVA's Framatome subsidiary, would boost CGNPC's output by 3,400 megawatts, AREVA said earlier.
The contract also calls on AREVA to provide uranium to fuel the reactors through 2026. The reactors are to be built by 2013-2014 in the city of Taishan in Guangdong province, an export manufacturing powerhouse with heavy demand for power and high levels of industrial pollution.
CPR-1000
The China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company has enhanced the French 900 MWe three cooling loop design imported in the 1990s into the 1,000 MWe CPR-1000CPR-1000
The CPR-1000 is a Generation II+ pressurized water reactor, based on the French 900 MWe three cooling loop design imported in the 1990s, improved to have a net power output of 1,000 MWe and a 60 year design life....
design, which is being quickly deployed with fifteen units under construction as at June 2010.
Some intellectual property rights are retained by AREVA, which limits CPR-1000 export potential for China. AREVA is reported to be considering whether it should market the cheaper, less sophisticated, CPR-1000 alongside the EPR, for countries that are new to nuclear power.
Poland
AREVA T&D owns following entities in Poland:- Protection relays & automation systems factory in Świebodzice.
- Distribution transformers factory in Mikołów.
- Systems unit in Katowice, preparing, managing and building substation as a "turn key" projects.
- Sales organization located in Katowice.
AREVA T&D employs 380 people in Poland.
Other activities
AREVA is also involved in military technologyMilitary technology
Military technology is the collection of equipment, vehicles, structures and communication systems that are designed for use in warfare. It comprises the kinds of technology that are distinctly military in nature and not civilian in application, usually because they are impractical in civilian...
, such as designing the nuclear reactor for the French Barracuda class submarine.
One of AREVA's subsidiaries, Euriware
Euriware
EURIWARE is a French company that provides advanced Consultancy and IT services in the spheres of energy, industry and defense.The core business of EURIWARE includes consultancy, systems integration and outsourcing.EURIWARE is fully owned by AREVA group, a French energy corporation mainly known as...
(founded in 1991) specializes in computer engineering
Computer engineering
Computer engineering, also called computer systems engineering, is a discipline that integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer science required to develop computer systems. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software design, and...
, and employs 2,100 persons on 14 different sites. AREVA also owns 11% of STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is an Italian-French electronics and semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.While STMicroelectronics corporate headquarters and the headquarters for EMEA region are based in Geneva, the holding company, STMicroelectronics N.V. is registered in Amsterdam,...
, 26,25% of Eramet, and 8,45% of Safran
SAFRAN
Safran is a French conglomerate involved in defense, aerospace propulsion and equipment, and security. It is the result of a merger between the propulsion and aerospace equipment group SNECMA and the defense conglomerate SAGEM. Its headquarters are located in Paris.The name Safran, literally...
. In May 2005 it sold all of its stakes in Assystem
Assystem
Assystem is an engineering services consulting company based in Paris, France. It resulted from the merger, in 1995, of ATEM and Alphatem...
, as well as FCI
FCI
FCI is a three-letter abbreviation that can refer to:* Facility Condition Index, a benchmark to compare the relative condition of a group of facilities* Factors Chain International, a global network of factoring companies* Federal Correctional Institution...
in October 2005 (sold to the private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
firm Bain Capital
Bain Capital
Bain Capital LLC is a Boston-based private equity firm founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. Originally conceived as an early-stage, growth-oriented investment fund, Bain Capital today manages approximately $65 billion in assets, and its strategies include private...
).
CERCA, a subsidiary of AREVA, is also involved in TRIGA
TRIGA
TRIGA is a class of small nuclear reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson.TRIGA is the acronym of Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics.-Design:...
International, established in 1996 with the US firm General Atomics
General Atomics
General Atomics is a nuclear physics and defense contractor headquartered in San Diego, California. General Atomics’ research into fission and fusion matured into competencies in related technologies, allowing the company to expand into other fields of research...
.
AREVA is also a corporate member of the Bruegel think tank.
2007 fine
In January 2007 AREVA was fined €53 million by the European CommissionEuropean Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
for rigging
Price fixing cases
-Air Travel:On 1 August 2007 it was reported that British Airways has been fined £121.5 million for price-fixing. The fine was imposed by the Office of Fair Trading after BA admitted to the price-fixing of fuel surcharges on long haul flights...
EU electricity markets through a cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
involving 11 companies, including ABB, Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
, Fuji
Fuji
-People:* Mr. Fuji, ring name of wrestling and manager Harry Fujiwara* Keiko Fuji, a Japanese singer of the 1960s and 1970s, and mother of Hikaru Utada* Sumiko Fuji, a Japanese actressFictional characters* Fuji , a character in the Stormwatch series...
, Hitachi Japan, AE Power Systems, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Schneider
Schneider
Schneider is a surname, common in Germany, it may also refer to:Companies and organizations* G. Schneider & Sohn, Bavarian brewery company* Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG, former owner of the Dual brand record players...
, Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
, Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
and VA Tech ELIN. According to the Commission, "between 1988 and 2004, the companies rigged bids for procurement contracts, fixed prices, allocated projects to each other, shared markets and exchanged commercially important and confidential information." Siemens was given a fine of €396 million, more than half of the total, for its alleged leadership role in the cartel.
AREVA is not accused of any cartel involvement other than through the acquisition of an Alstom unit in January 2004. "This subsidiary was acquired by the Areva group towards the end of the infringement, in January 2004. The parent entities of the Areva group share a joint liability with that subsidiary for the period after its acquisition." "A few months before the cartel ended Alstom sold the unit involved to Areva, which knew nothing of the cartel. It [Areva] and Alstom have joint liability for 53.6 million, which they must decide how to split."
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes
Neelie Kroes
Neelie Kroes is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . She served as a Member of the House of Representatives from 3 August 1971 until 28 December 1977 when she became State Secretary for Transport, Public Works and Water Management from 28 December 1977 until 11...
declared that "The commission has put an end to a cartel which has cheated public utility companies and consumers for more than 16 years".
Advertisements
AREVA has gained some fame after airing 3,000 cel-shaded animationCel-shaded animation
Cel-shaded animation is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make computer graphics appear to be hand-drawn. Cel-shading is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon. It is a somewhat recent addition to computer graphics, most commonly turning up in video games...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
ad spots created by French design group H5, who also created the similar music video for Röyksopp
Röyksopp
Röyksopp is a Norwegian electronic music duo from Tromsø, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland....
's "Remind Me". The ads explained how the generation and distribution of nuclear power works. The ads featured the song "Funkytown
Funkytown
"Funkytown" is a 1980 disco hit song by the disco band Lipps Inc. The song expresses the singer's pining for a metaphorical place that will "keep me movin', keeps me groovin' with some energy". It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and Dance charts in 1980, also reaching number 1 in Germany,...
" by Lipps Inc..
In the French economic paper "challenges" Anne Lauvergeon, chairman, declared the 10th July 2008: "Uranium is a main part of our success. '(...)'. So in China, we sold two nuclear parts, plus 35% of our uranium production. This is our integrated business model."
Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility
AREVA Inc., based in Bethesda, MarylandBethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, announced on 2008-05-06 that it will seek all necessary approval to build a uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
enrichment
Enrichment
Enrichment may mean:*Education. *The process of adding nutrients to cereals or grain: see food fortification.*The process of adding sugar to grape must during winemaking in order to achieve a higher alcohol content of the wine, more commonly referred to as chaptalization.*Behavioral...
facility in Bonneville County, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, about twenty miles west of Idaho Falls and near the Idaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory
Idaho National Laboratory is an complex located in the high desert of eastern Idaho, between the town of Arco to the west and the cities of Idaho Falls and Blackfoot to the east. It lies within Butte, Bingham, Bonneville and Jefferson counties...
.
On 2008-08-04, the AREVA group announced its proposed gas centrifuge enrichment facility will be named the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility (EREF).
Entering India
On 18 December 2008 AREVA signed an agreement with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) for the supply of 300 tonnes of uranium to India for power generation, thus becoming the first-ever foreign supplier of Uranium to the country after the NSG waiver.On 4 February 2009, AREVA signed a MOU to supply two to six nuclear reactors to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited. The deal is thought to be worth around 12.3 billion dollars (600 billion rupees), an all-time record for the company surpassing the 8-billion Euro (11.1 billion dollars) deal signed with China a few years earlier. They are also likely to supply fuel for the project which is intended for the western Indian state of Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
and carry out the construction of a 110/11KV Substation for Infopark at Cherthala in Kerala.
See also
- Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power PlantCalvert Cliffs Nuclear Power PlantThe Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay near Lusby, Calvert County, Maryland.-Overview:...
- European Atomic Energy CommunityEuropean Atomic Energy CommunityThe European Atomic Energy Community is an international organisation which is legally distinct from the European Union , but has the same membership, and is governed by the EU's institutions....
- Groupe INTRAGroupe INTRAGroupe INTRA is a French emergency response organization created by the French CEA, and the French nuclear companies Areva and EDF. It maintains a number of emergency intervention teams equipped with high-power radiation-hardened teleoperated mobile robots for intervention in nuclear accidents...
- KazatompromKazatompromKazatomprom is a state-owned nuclear holding company in Kazakhstan, which operates in the field of Uranium and nuclear fuel cycle services, production of Beryllium, Tantalum and Niobium, and power production...
- Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating StationNine Mile Point Nuclear Generating StationNine Mile Point Nuclear Station is a two-unit nuclear power plant located in the Town of Scriba, approximately five miles northeast of Oswego, New York, on the shore of Lake Ontario. The 900 acre site is also occupied by the Fitzpatrick Nuclear Generating Station.Nine Mile Point is operated...
- Nuclear Power 2010 ProgramNuclear Power 2010 ProgramThe "Nuclear Power 2010 Program" was unveiled by the U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on February 14, 2002 as one means towards addressing the expected need for new power plants...
- World Nuclear Industry Status ReportWorld Nuclear Industry Status ReportThe World Nuclear Industry Status Report is a yearly report that explores the global challenges facing the nuclear power industry. The reports show that the share of nuclear-generated electricity in the overall global energy production has decreased in the 2000s...
External links
- AREVA Website
- US AREVA North America Blog
- AREVA T&D (Transmission & Distribution) Website
- AREVA T&D Poland (Transmission & Distribution) Website
- AREVA Energy Experts (The AREVA TV Animation)
- Report on AREVA dropping their bid for Westinghouse in August, 2005
- Official site of the Olkiluoto reactor project in Finland
- The Multinational Monitor, July 1983,Vol. 4, Number 7, International Monetary Fund
- Framatome SA Company History
- Areva safety claim triggers reaction -- Financial TimesFinancial TimesThe Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....