By Alun Richards, AREVA Resources Canada

There has been a lot of discussion around the world about the nuclear renaissance and how it would be fueled.

AREVA, for example, has been exploring for and mining uranium for about 40 years in northern Saskatchewan Canada. A very high level of support for our industry has developed in Saskatchewan. For example, over 80% of the public supports uranium mining, over 70% would like to have nuclear reactors considered, and 83% would like to see a research/isotope reactor in the province. This support is based in decades of operating in a socially responsible manner and provided very high levels of environmental protection.

Aside from the scores of ongoing environmental monitoring programs, AREVA is intensively involved with the local, primarily aboriginal communities in northern Saskatchewan where the mines are located. The Environmental Quality Committee, made up of representatives of the northern communities, review uranium mining activities and communicate their views to government regulators as well as to their own neighbours. One group of communities manages its own independent environmental monitoring program, funded by the industry, to ensure there are no impacts from uranium mining. This program has been ongoing for almost a decade, giving a high level of comfort to residents of the north.

Local hiring, contracting and purchasing all help to support uranium mining as being part of positive economic, social and environmental development in northern Saskatchewan.

In response to claims from Greenpeace about AREVA’s activities in Niger, AREVA continues to demonstrate that safety and transparency are top priorities.

In a press release issued by AREVA yesterday, the group said:

At the invitation of AREVA, five representatives of Greenpeace visited the group’s mining facilities in the north of Niger in November 2009.

The NGO took a number of readings and samples on the sites without sharing them with AREVA.

Many of the conclusions and statements issued since by Greenpeace are unfounded.

The group finds this lack of transparency highly regrettable.

AREVA’s mining activities in Niger are carried out in strict compliance with international health, safety and environmental standards. The many international inspections and audits hoped and prayed for by Greenpeace have already been carried out on several occasions over the last few years. The French Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Institute, Quanta Médical, Gispe (a French nonprofit organization working in healthcare) and AFAQ (the French quality assurance association) have all visited the group’s sites to attest to the quality of its environment, health and radiation protection management systems.

AREVA has also joined forces with the Nigerien government, Sherpa and Médecins du Monde to run a Health Observatory through which it monitors the health of former mineworkers and those living around the sites. This is the only initiative of its kind in the industrial world.

The group reiterates that it is perfectly prepared to enter into calm, argued discussions and confirms its commitment to developing responsible mining activities.

AREVA’s blog for North America is another forum for our stakeholder discussions and our commitment to transparency. We encourage open and honest debate and invite any interested party to engage with us.

View press release here.

By Jarret Adams

AREVA announced today its contract to supply recycled mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel to the Japanese utility Hokkaido Electric Power Company for use at its Tomari 3 nuclear plant. According to the agreement, AREVA will manufacture MOX fuel assemblies using recycled material at its MELOX facility near Avignon, France.

This is the eighth Japanese utility to sign on for MOX fuel produced by AREVA.

Jean-Pierre Gros, Executive Vice President of AREVA’s Recycling business, said this contract “strengthens AREVA’s world leadership in MOX fuel fabrication and attests Japanese utilities’ confidence in our technology and know-how.”

Last week, AREVA hosted a virtual tour of its La Hague recycling facility in Normandy to show our decades of experience recycling used nuclear fuel. After the material is obtained at La Hague, it is sent to MELOX where AREVA manufactures MOX fuel.

Click here to learn more about AREVA’s recycling business.

Today, AREVA hosted live a virtual tour of the La Hague Recycling facility in Normandy, France. The tour provided a closer look at AREVA’s decades of experience in safely and economically recycling used nuclear fuel. The discussion described how nuclear fuel recycling simplifies nuclear waste management, conserves precious resources and increases energy security. In addition to showing the audience first-hand through the activities involved in recycling, the tour highlighted that recycling is a proven practical option as part of America’s strategy for managing used fuel.

AREVA Recycling Facility in La Hague

The entire tour is available for viewing in the link below. We encourage you to send us your questions on this topic as this tour is just a beginning for open dialogue and discussion on recycling as an option for the United States.

Access to the video available here, please note that you will be asked to register.

We want to congratulate Shaw AREVA MOX Services for its achievement of a record 3 million consecutive safe work hours. The MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina has already completed the construction of two buildings totaling almost 95,000 square feet and are working on the 500,000 square foot MOX Processing Building.

As we mentioned yesterday, AREVA is a partner with the Shaw Group for the construction of the Department of Energy’s MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility. This project, which is a major component of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s non-proliferation efforts, converts former weapons material for later use as fuel in nuclear reactors, utilizing AREVA’s recycling technology and experience.

For more information on this major achievement for nuclear facility construction, check out the press release.

AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon was out in California yesterday, speaking to business and community leaders about the potential to build one or two U.S. EPR™ reactors around the Central Valley area near Fresno. In addition to providing clean, baseload energy, the nuclear plants could be part of a Clean Energy Park that would also include solar and desalination plants for clean water. But a key aspect of the proposed project is jobs. The construction and operation of a nuclear facility has the potential to generate over 10,000 jobs and millions of dollars for the regional economy.

By Jarret Adams

As the new Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future begins its work this week, it is faced with an interesting situation. Companies have filed applications to build 26 new reactors in the United States and many more are under consideration. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy filed to pull its application earlier this month for the Yucca Mountain repository for used nuclear fuel.

With Yucca Mountain “off the table,” many wonder what America’s long-term strategy for managing used fuel will be. Since this decision will no doubt take time to address, it is good that the commission has begun its work now as this piece in the Christian Science Monitor points out.

While we cannot predict what the Commission will decide, we are familiar with the back end of the nuclear fuel cycle. At AREVA, providing solutions for managing used fuel and nuclear waste is a key part of what we do in the United States and internationally.

AREVA manufactures transportation and storage containers for used nuclear fuel. In fact, AREVA subsidiary Transnuclear Inc. is the leading supplier of dry storage systems in the United States.

We recycle used fuel and manufacture mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel for customers around the globe. Earlier this month, we announced the second Japanese nuclear plant to produce electricity using MOX fuel supplied by AREVA. Today, some 38 reactors at 11 different utilities in Western Europe and Japan use MOX fuel from AREVA.

MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility under construction

We are involved in the clean up of sites, such as the DOE’s Hanford and Savannah River, which were the focus of defense activities.

AREVA also supports U.S. nonproliferation efforts through its partnership with The Shaw Group to construct the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility at Savannah River for the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration. This facility will convert former weapons material into MOX fuel for U.S. electric utilities. Construction of this facility, which employs some 1,800 workers today, is proceeding well.

Following-up on Gallup’s results that support for nuclear power is at an all-time high, a recent study from market research firm TNS Sofres looks at opinions on the topic of recycling used nuclear fuel. Presented as part of AREVA’s International Recycling Day in February, the study “Nuclear energy and recycling opportunities: the perceptions in Europe and the United States,” surveyed the ‘informed public’ and opinion leaders from seven different countries for their perspectives.

The study looked at public perceptions of nuclear energy, the role that used nuclear fuel plays in opinions, and how this topic is shaping potential for expansion of the nuclear industry across the globe. The clear messages from this survey are that management of used nuclear fuel remains a significant issue with regard to industry growth and that the “well-informed” group is more in favor of recycling. Additionally, opinion-leaders felt that the authorities had not fully grasped the challenges posed by used fuel management, demanding immediate action and placing greater trust in the industry itself.

For the United States, the driver for acceptance is also a matter of information and education. When asked “In fact, 96% of the materials contained in used nuclear fuel can be recovered and recycled immediately or later inside nuclear reactors. Would you say that…this supports the idea that nuclear energy is a solution for the future,” an overwhelming majority (87%) of American respondents agreed.

Read the entire study and watch for more information on recycling.

This past Saturday, nearly 100 AREVA employees participated in the National Marathon that took place on the streets of the nation’s capitol. Employees from AREVA locations throughout the United States joined together to run in the Marathon, Half-Marathon, and Half-Marathon team relay event with over 9,000 other runners in Washington, D.C.

AREVA employees after finishing the race

This was a great opportunity to see AREVA employees and their families out running, volunteering, and cheering.

AREVA was a sponsor of the event as part of its Athlenergy program. In addition to encouraging team spirit and stressing the importance of physical fitness, AREVA is running for a cause.

AREVA’s sponsorship program will donate about one dollar for every mile run by each employee to an organization called Reach Out and Read. This non-profit promotes early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by giving new books to children and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud.

We want to congratulate all of this year’s participants and encourage you to energize the athlete in you.

Find out more on AREVA’s Athlenergy Program.