We just want to share some of the discussion that has been taking place in U.S. news this week:

From “Nuclear is Good Investment for Economy, Environment and Energy Security” by Bernard Weinstein in the San Antonio Express-News

“A decade ago, objections from environmentalists were the principal roadblocks to new [nuclear] plant construction. But most of the concerns over safety and waste disposal have been allayed while the environmental lobby now acknowledges that nuclear power generation is environmentally benign. Today, the potential hold-up to new plant construction is the availability of financing. In the current economic climate, industry executives are concerned that banks and Wall Street will not provide the money needed to build new reactors unless the loans are guaranteed by the federal government.”

John Tomasic of the Colorado Independent wrote this about Democratic Senator Mark Udall – “Udall Reasserts Controversial Pro-Nuclear Position”

“At an “open hearing” held at Rocky Mountain National Park today, Colorado U.S. Sen. Mark Udall (D) repeated his support of a national energy plan that would increase use of nuclear power as a way to combat global warming… Udall falls into a group of green leaders turned by the climate change debate into nuclear supporters. Stewart Brand, the famous founder of the environmentalist Whole Earth Catalog, made a splash in 2007 by endorsing nuclear power.”

And in an opinion editorial by Washington State Senator Jerome Delvin in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “Nuclear Energy: It’s the Only Way to Go Green”

“The term “nuclear waste” is a misnomer. This used fuel is actually a very valuable commodity. Used fuel still holds 95 percent of its energy and can be recycled and reused in the reactor.

In the U.S., used fuel is stored safely and securely above ground, adjacent to the power plant which produced it. This has been done for many years and can continue for the next several decades. However, we should follow the lead of France, Japan and England and recycle this used fuel.”

Rob Pavey of The Augusta Chronicle coined the project “a new mission for an old plant,” as the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility, currently under construction by Shaw AREVA MOX Services on the Department of Energy Savannah River Site, becomes an integral part of a global effort for nuclear arms reduction, world peace, and security.

“Workers will transform 34 metric tons of plutonium taken from about 10,000 dismantled nuclear bombs into something much less sinister, in fact beneficial: fuel rods that can be sold to utilities for use in commercial nuclear reactors.”

The facility is a massive undertaking using more than 170,000 cubic yards of concrete and 35,000 ton of reinforcing steel to complete the 600,000 square-foot facility. When fully operational, the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility will be capable of turning 3.5 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel assemblies each year.

The Chronicle also points out how this project is a highly-regarded solution for weapons disposal. Current Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu, was quoted as saying “the men and women building the MOX Facility at Savannah River Site are working day and night to advance our vital national security interests…this facility will allow us to lead by example by demonstrating our commitment to eliminating surplus weapons plutonium in a transparent and irreversible manner.”

To read the rest of the article that includes some great background on the MOX projects, check out “MOX: The Future of SRS.”

For more information on the MOX Project, check out the official site.

Here’s an informative video that takes you inside the world’s #1 facility for reprocessing used nuclear fuel. The AREVA La Hague industrial complex, located just west of Cherbourg, has recycled more than 21,000 tons of used fuel since its inception, reducing the need for natural uranium and the amount of radioactive waste.

We love to write about things like this! 

Congratulations to our colleagues at Shaw AREVA MOX Services, who raised more than $26,000 for children’s charities at this year’s annual Celebrity Waiter Night in Aiken, S.C.  The money will be used to provide daycare, meals, and help to at-risk kids in the Aiken County area.

According to Dave Stinson, president and project manager for Shaw AREVA MOX Services, volunteers were motivated by the need to help others:

Our focus was on helping Children’s Place meet the needs of the children and families they serve, and that drove us to exceed even our own expectations… The hard work of our employee waiters, the generosity of our guests, and the helpfulness and wonderful food of Casa Bella put us way over the top.

Floyd Bartoe, cost manager for Shaw AREVA MOX Services and Celebrity Waiter Night coordinator, added:

Our employees and subcontractors really put the ‘fun’ in fundraising, from a golf tournament, raffles, and a silent auction to an in-house band and strolling Elvis. We had so much fun last year, and it’s such a worthy cause; we had to try to do better this year.

Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of AREVA

For nearly half a century, non-proliferation treaties and other multinational collaborations have helped facilitate the safe expansion of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. But some wonder whether the benefits of the so-called “nuclear renaissance” are worth the increased risks of the technology and potentially dangerous materials being used as weapons by terrorists, recalcitrant governments, and other groups that care little for the benefits of international cooperation.

AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon addressed these concerns in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s 2009 Conference on Nonproliferation in Washington, D.C.

Lauvergeon noted that while governments bear primary responsibility for effectively preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, the nuclear industry can and must play a critical role as well.

“We have entered a world where nuclear industry is not to be seen as part of the problem, as it could have in the past, nor as a passive actor, but as an active part of the solution,” she said.

Citing corporate policies such as AREVA’s own Values Charter, which mandates working only with customers from countries that conform to international nonproliferation norms and obligations, and the emergence of reprocessing protocols that limit access to used fuel, Lauvergeon called the international growth of nuclear energy, “a unique opportunity to promote an enhanced culture of nonproliferation.”

The key, she explained, is to promote initiatives such as an international fuel bank that would help developing nations rectify their acute energy imbalances, and a well-functioning, closed fuel cycle market that would provide enrichment and used fuel recycling services at competitive prices. Such measures, she said, would minimize any incentive for non-nuclear countries to acquire fuel recycling and enrichment facilities of their own.

Noting how AREVA has already treated more than 20,000 tons of used fuel from seven countries, “The experience shows that, under the right framework, treatment and recycling are a very good option,” said Lauvergeon.

In closing, Mme. Lauvergeon said that the ongoing nuclear renaissance offers the world “a tremendous opportunity to meeting the energy, economic and environmental needs of both developed and developing countries, for the lifetime of our children and beyond. This, without increasing the risk of nuclear weapons.”

A transcript and video of the Conference are available here.

A recent Clean Skies TV report tackled the question that many nuclear opponents see as the downside to the reliable, CO2-free energy produce by nuclear power plants; What about the cost?

The report by Tyler Suiters explores how the new nuclear power plants are not necessarily a burden to the taxpayer, but a benefit to the energy ratepayer.

Watch the clip (starting at 23:10) as he looks at the current builds and what it will take to get a new nuclear power plant built in the United States. A large factor to support these new builds will be a strong industrial base. As the report shows, AREVA is already making bold moves in the United States with two projects to meet this demand. AREVA Newport News LLC, which broke ground at this July, will manufacture the heavy components for necessary for new EPR™ reactors. AREVA is also actively working on the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility, a state-of-the-art centrifuge enrichment plant to meet the current U.S. nuclear energy demands.

Here’s more information about AREVA Newport News LLC and the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility.

UVAToday, a University of Virginia publication, includes a feature on the partnership between its School of Engineering and Applied Science and AREVA. The partnership includes dedicated funding for educational and research programs, and provides an excellent opportunity for tomorrow’s engineers to gain practical experience today in the field of nuclear engineering.

AREVA, a global nuclear energy company headquartered in Paris, with a facility in Lynchburg, represents an important corporate partner to the Engineering School. The company has been a champion of an undergraduate engineering distance-learning program, Engineers PRODUCED in Virginia, since its creation in 2007.

The program began taking shape in 2006 when AREVA foresaw the need for more engineers to meet the demands of the emerging nuclear renaissance in the United States. This renaissance–and need for engineers–includes the AREVA Newport News facility, development of the Clean Energy Park in Ohio, and the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility in Idaho.

Engineers PRODUCED in Virginia is one solution to the shortage. At varying levels, AREVA is now sponsoring more than 40 students in the program, offering mentorships, paying tuition and book costs and offering employment to graduates. The company also allows flex-time to its current employees so they can complete the program while working.

Jacob Bumgarner, currently enrolled in the program online as a University of Virginia student and an AREVA engineering intern, comments:

This program has allowed me to continue living at home, while working and earning an engineering degree from one of the most prestigious schools in the country. I am also lucky enough to be sponsored by AREVA, so I am able to learn something from school, and then come to work and actually see how it is used.

Here’s the full article from UVAToday.

People are talking about nuclear energy, and as Lisa Peterson describes from her post “A Nuclear Charlotte, North Carolina” on Clean Energy Insight, it’s all about economic growth and jobs.

Nuclear power is on the brink of a renaissance. New nuclear power plants are planned to be built; which means the nuclear industry has the potential to provide thousands of people with jobs, in fields such as construction and engineering, to name a few. This will create major positive impacts on the economy.

The nuclear industry is, therefore, in need of new talent. Charlotte, NC has been named the supposed “hub” for this nuclear renaissance in the United States, drawing scores of people to the area to work in the nuclear industry. Companies like Shaw, Westinghouse, Areva, URS/Washington, and Toshiba all have offices in Charlotte. Utilities who employ many nuclear power plants in their fleets such as Duke Energy, Progress Energy, and The Southern Company are nearby as well. Listen to this radio program that aired on Wednesday, May 6, (WFAE 90.7 FM) that discusses the positive impact that nuclear power can have on the overall national economy, the environment and the influx of jobs it can bring to the Charlotte area.

Click here to see where else AREVA’s 6,000 U.S employees work…

In an editorial from the August 16, 2009 The News-Star, Professor Emeritus Ron Thompson opines on the value of nuclear energy to meet an increasing global appetite for energy:

Global energy demands are increasing exponentially. Burning more fossil fuel is not a viable solution. An inescapable fact of burning fossil fuels is that for every 12 pounds of carbon burned, 44 pounds of carbon dioxide are produced. Another inescapable fact is the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing exponentially since the mid-1800s. It is possible that man’s activities can change the atmospheric conditions of the entire planet.

And while he notes how “nuclear reactors now have many successful years of operation and have a proven safety record,” his point is that the current “challenge we face today is what to do with the used fuel after it is removed from a reactor.”

In Thompson’s opinion, “the best solution is to separate the fuel and waste through a reprocessing cycle. The used fuel from a reactor contains about 5 percent radioactive waste and 95 percent nuclear fuel. The most dangerous radioactive wastes with the highest specific activity are short lived and decay to stable elements. Longer lived radionuclides can be transmuted into shorter lived isotopes.”

Read the full piece, “Nuclear fuel reprocessing: the benefits” here.

For more information on AREVA’s recycling efforts and its Back-End Division, click here.

AREVA was well represented at the NSBE's diversity career fair by Marcus Jones (Charlotte), Carl Thurston (Lynchburg), Althea Jones (Charlotte), Hank Samerson (Charlotte), and George Ifebuzo (Marlborough).

Over the past several years AREVA has steadily increased its diversity in the workforce, and minority hires are playing a role in recruitment efforts. The increase is due to more aggressive recruitment efforts on college campuses and AREVA’s sponsorship of conferences geared towards minority college graduates.

One successful example is AREVA’s sponsorship of an annual conference hosted by the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). This conference is the largest diversity career fair in the country and attracts more than 10,000 people. At this year’s event, held recently in Las Vegas, AREVA sponsored a company booth at the two-day Conference Career Fair. A five member AREVA team met with hundreds of African-American and international students studying engineering in the United States.

The team educated the students about AREVA and discussed career opportunities. “Our goal is to meet well-rounded, motivated students, who are interested and excited about career opportunities at AREVA,” explained Althea Jones, Technical Recruiter. “We conduct an initial meet-and-greet to learn more about the candidate, and we follow up with the most promising for further consideration.”

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