by Mary Beth Ginder

AREVA North America President Jacques Besnainou chatted today with members of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) in a webinar session hosted by NA-YGN’s professional development committee. Jacques spoke informally and answered member’s questions about the need for nuclear recycling capabilities in the U.S. Recycling offers a safe, competitive and sustainable way to deal with used fuel. As we wait for the Department of Energy Blue-Ribbon panel to weigh different options for managing used fuel, the AREVA model for recycling offers a proven solution for conserving resources and creating a more sustainable fuel cycle.

As a follow up to the webinar chat, here are a couple of PDF documents that might be of interest:

• a Boston Consulting group study on “Economic Assessment of Used Nuclear Fuel Management in the United States”
• Recycling Slideshow from Jacques Besnainou

The nuclear energy industry has not always been the most popular kid on the block—thanks in part to some gross misinformation that gets passed around. However, a recent piece by Corey Taule in the Idaho Falls Post Register factually addressed some inaccurate claims made by the Snake River Alliance about AREVA’s planned Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility. Taule argues that Alliance claims like “Uranium Enrichment—It’s About the Bomb!” and “Tell Your Neighbors—Uranium Enrichment is ‘an open road to a nuclear weapon,” will not be persuasive because, as Taule points out, “Eastern Idaho is pro-nuclear and educated about the issue.”

He points out that “America’s nuclear plants need enriched uranium to produce power. The concentration of U-235, the fissionable isotope in uranium, need to be increased from .07 percent to between 3 percent and 5 percent for use as a nuclear fuel. That’s where AREVA’s centrifuge process comes in,” and that Eagle Rock will not have the capacity to generate “weapons-grade fuel [that] generally comes in at about 85 percent.”

Answering the Alliance’s claims about depleted uranium disposal, he refers to the fact that “AREVA has said repeatedly it will not store depleted uranium on site. We live here. This is our backyard…So where will it go? Depleted uranium has commercial applications as tank armor and counterweights. As to the leftover, federal law requires the government accept depleted uranium with no commercial value.”

The Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility will have an estimated multi-billon dollar economic impact and create hundreds of jobs. It also will meet 25 percent of the nation’s critical enrichment needs, especially considering “that if the U.S. is serious about reducing carbon emissions, nuclear must become a greater part of the nation’s power portfolio. That means building more nuclear power plants. Some estimate that even after AREVA’s Eagle Rock facility comes online, America will still import 25 percent of its enriched uranium from Russia.”

The whole piece from Sunday October 25, “Watching the Watchdog,” is worth a read.

For more information about the planned Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility, the potential economic impact, U.S. enrichment needs, and AREVA’s commitments to sustainable development, safety and the environment, check here.

By Laura Clise
Director, Sustainable Development and Continuous Improvement

In an increasingly resource-constrained world and at a time when society at large is grappling with the critical challenges of economic recovery, energy security, and climate change, business leaders are considering the bold actions required to facilitate the transition to a low-carbon economy. In the globally integrated world in which we live, what happens in one economy does not stay in one economy. Therefore, business, government, and civil society need to establish models of collaboration that address these common issues, which are not limited by national boundaries.

This theme was at the heart of two recent gatherings of the world’s business leaders: a meeting of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in Washington, D.C., and the Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) conference in San Francisco. As a member of both the WBCSD and BSR, AREVA is fully engaged in this dynamic dialogue about the role business must play in adapting existing business and economic models to support systemic sustainability.

In a panel discussion, incoming WBCSD Chair Jorma Ollila, also Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and Nokia, emphasized the need to act now in the interest of the long term, managing and addressing the challenges of transition to a low-carbon economy, which will be neither cheap, nor easy, nor quick. In response to the question of the role of climate policy, World Resources Institute President Jonathan Lash and Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers stressed the importance of a framework that makes it profitable to transition away from old technologies and the need for the U.S. to step up and lead on the issue of climate change.

At the BSR Conference, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) CEO Ernst Ligteringen argued for the need for strong leadership and a change of mindset that will push companies to balance the pressure to act on short-term targets with a longer-term, sustainable vision. Zhang Yue, Chainman and CEO of BROAD Air Conditioning, raised the question of whether growth (increased production, consumption, etc.) is necessarily development. He encourages his employees to consider why they are selling products to their customers and emphasizes the value of creating products for society using a business model that contributes to a more sustainable economic trajectory.

In a conference breakout session, When Good Intentions Collide, business leaders discussed the challenge of balancing the benefits and drawbacks to various competing technology solutions to economic, energy, and climate change issues. Despite competing policy priorities, the reality is that transformational progress in any of these areas will require a portfolio of solutions and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

To realize the vision of systemic sustainability articulated by both WBCSD President Bjorn Stigson and BSR CEO Aron Cramer, the pursuit of profit must be rooted in sustainable innovation that addresses the critical issues confronting us as a society. Extrapolating from the WBCSD and BSR discussions, more and more, the pathway to profitability will be one that recognizes and respects the limits of the planet while generating both economic and social value – for that is what makes sustainable development both good for business and simply good business.

by Katherine Berezowskyj

Today in the Washington Post, the focus was on the role of nuclear energy in the climate bill.

“The elements of a nuclear package under discussion include investment tax credits, a doubling or more of the existing $18.5 billion in federal loan guarantees for new plants, giving nuclear plants access to a new clean energy development bank, federally financed training for nuclear plant workers, a new look at reprocessing nuclear fuel, and a streamlining of the regulatory approval process, according to corporate, congressional and administration sources.

Designed to put nuclear power on an even footing with wind and solar, the package comes on top of existing incentives, such as the production tax credit…

Even relatively liberal lawmakers such as Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) are talking about the need to insert nuclear power incentives into a climate bill. President Obama has said he is open to new nuclear plants. And Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said that the country should “not stop at three or four, but should get tens of [new] reactors.”

The article also mentions AREVA Newport News, the AREVA and Northrop Grumman $360 million heavy components manufacturing facility currently under construction. Jacques Besnainou, AREVA North America President, was also quoted saying “Nuclear is not the only solution for the U.S., but there’s no solution without nuclear energy.”

However the subject of taxpayer subsidies and federal loan guarantees should have a little more attention. Saying that the industry is “relying on subsidies” is not accurate of the loan guarantee program. Loan guarantees provide a federal backstop so that companies can obtain the financing for developing new projects. According to the Department of Energy, loan guarantees “support early commercial use of advanced technologies, if “there is reasonable prospect of repayment of the principal and interest on the obligation by the borrower.” The program was established to support the development of clean energy technologies, like nuclear energy, especially in the tight capital market.

See the full article, “A Nuclear Power Boost for Bill,” for more discussion of nuclear energy as a part of this key climate legislation.

Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment, Canada

“Nuclear will play a key role in our clean energy strategy. And the reality is: nuclear is non-emitting. Nuclear energy displaces between 40 and 80 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually relative to producing the same quantity of electricity from gas or coal.

Canada has been a pioneer in the development of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Today our nuclear industry generates billions of dollars of economic activity and accounts for thirty thousand direct and indirect jobs…. One of the key phrases that you hear is that we’re undergoing a nuclear renaissance. It’s a form of electricity that is being embraced by many countries around the world.

At the International Energy Agency Meetings in Paris last week, leaders around the world re-stated what we have known for some time: without a significant increase in nuclear power, the world will be unable to meet required greenhouse gas reduction targets….

The nations of the world are responding to the challenges of climate change. Canada has developed many innovative technologies that will be vital in meeting those challenges. We are researching, developing and deploying many new technologies. But the nuclear technology that we did so much to pioneer a half century ago will remain at the forefront of the global quest for clean and reliable energy.”

– Jim Prentice, Minister of the Environment, Canada

by Katherine Berezowskyj

After breaking ground in July, the AREVA Newport News facility continues to develop in Virginia where AREVA and joint-venture partners Northrop Grumman are building a heavy component manufacturing facility. In the latest construction progress a new contract was announced today with CH2M Hill who will provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for AREVA Newport News.

This $360 million facility will manufacture heavy components, including reactor vessels, pressurizers, and steam generators, which are all critical pieces for new US EPR™ reactors. With an expected completion date of January 2012, the 330,000 square-foot facility will create more than 500 permanent jobs for Virginia.

What this means for the revival of nuclear energy in the United States was pointed out by AREVA NP Inc. President and CEO Mike Rencheck who said that “the construction of the AREVA Newport News manufacturing facility is evidence of the U.S. nuclear resurgence and AREVA’s leading role in increasing the generation of safe, clean, affordable electricity for America.”

Check out the AREVA US website for more information on AREVA Newport News.

The AP news report notices what we’ve been blogging about here often, that “nuclear energy becomes piviotal in the climate debate…” The article notes that there are:

“…104 power reactors in 31 states provide a fifth of the nation’s electricity while producing essentially carbon free power and no greenhouse gas emissions.

It’s something the nuclear industry has been pushing in advertising and in lobbying on Capitol Hill for nearly a decade. But only recently has it begun to resonate, not only among industry supporters, but some skeptics as well.

‘If you want to address climate change and produce electricity, nuclear has got to be a significant part of the equation,’ Marvin Fertel, president of Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry trade group, said in an interview.

Not unexpected from a top industry lobbyist. But the same is being heard from Republicans and Democrats in Congress, from a growing number of environmentalists, and from the White House where nuclear power otherwise has received tepid support.”

The article describes the upcoming energy bill well:

“The Senate this week will kick off three committee hearings on legislation to cap greenhouse gases from power plants and large industrial facilities, with an intent of cutting them about 80 percent by 2050. The House has already passed a bill. It’s chances in the Senate could hinge in part on whether demands by a handful of GOP senators for measures to help build new reactors are included in the bill…

Sponsors of the climate bill are far short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a GOP filibuster, but hope compromises could be forged to bring uncommitted centrist Democrats and some Republicans on board.”

We’d suggest that in addition to being good politics, including incentives to nuclear energy in this climate bill has the added benefit of being simply good policy.

by Katherine Berezowskyj

350─it’s the number that has been estimated by scientists as the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere (measured in parts per million, or ppm). Until 200 years ago, the CO2 in our atmosphere measured at 275 parts per million, and now our carbon-emitting technologies and energy sources have pushed this level up to 390 ppm.

350 is also an international campaign “dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis–the solutions that science and justice demand.” The focus is on the number 350 because “it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a plant.”

We are behind this campaign because of its important messages: the immediate need to reduce our CO2-emissions, including that “We need to stop taking carbon out of the ground and putting it into the air.” This means using more renewable and nuclear energy sources provide CO2-free energy.
In addition to expanding renewables, we remember that nuclear energy is a major factor in helping prevent emissions and already generates nearly 75% of the CO2-free electricity for the United States.

Tomorrow, October 24, is the International Day of Climate Action. People from all around the world will participate in acts to call attention to 350 and to “inspire the world to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis—to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet.”

Please check out the 350.org campaign.

Stewart Brand (Photo courtesy flickr user jurvetson, Creative Commons licensed)

Environmentalist Stewart Brand, when asked by Newsweek “Is Nuclear power green?”

Having been careful not to look into nuclear power for many years, when I began considering it I thought it was green primarily in the context of greenhouse gases and climate change. But frankly, now I’ve gotten to the point now that even if carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, greenhouse gases, and climate change were not significant issues, I would still probably be pro-nuclear. Because coal is so awful….

The waste from coal means gigatons of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. There is also the fly ash, slurry, and all the rest of the stuff. The sheer quantities get to be overwhelming. Eighty rail cars a day of coal, each one weighing a hundred tons goes into a 1-gigawatt coal-fired plant, and that multiplies to 19,000 tons of carbon dioxide, every day. Compare that to one year of a 1-gigawatt nuclear plant, which puts out 20 tons of very dense nuclear waste that goes into dry cask storage. You know exactly where it is and you monitor it, and it’s not doing anything bad. That’s a pretty strong contrast.

by Katherine Berezowskyj

A few weeks ago, AREVA successfully delivered two new steam generators to Exelon’s Three Mile Island (TMI) generation station. The logistics involved in transporting these two 510-ton generators through Maryland and Pennsylvania made it quite a journey, but with over two years of planning and coordination the 100 mile journey a huge success.

Watch the video below as these mammoth generators traverse their way through towns and over bridges as local communities watched the unfolding show: