More info available at moxproject.com.

Speaking with Forbes, Anne Lauvergeon, AREVA CEO, declared “There is no solution without nuclear power.”

In a story posted online today, “AREVA Chief talks Power,” Forbes describes Lauvergeon’s confidence in nuclear energy despite the obstacles.

“Lauvergeon isn’t concerned. She is betting big on the U.S. Areva is building a nuclear power plant component factory with Northrup Grumman in Virginia. It recently won a $2 billion Department of Energy loan guarantee to build a uranium enrichment facility in Idaho. It is building a facility in South Carolina to transform excess weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors.

And, perhaps most significantly, one of Areva’s reactor designs, called the US-EPR, is one of two favorites to win the next nuclear loan guarantee. Constellation Energy and the French utility Electricité de France are hoping to build a US-EPR at Constellation’s Calvert Cliffs site in southern Maryland.”

As the U.S. nuclear solutions leader, “Lauvergeon sees it as Areva’s responsibility to restart the nuclear industry here, from building new facilities to trying to get California to change its anti-nuke laws.”

In Forbes Woman, Lauvergeon also discussed the need for diversity and women in leadership roles, saying “If you want to be in the energy business, you need to reflect the societies as they are.”

by Katherine Berezowskyj


Yes, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl were accidents, but they were also lessons that strengthened safety mentality. These lessons ushered a new level of safety, observation, and prevention. There is no “propensity to underestimate the chances of ‘low probability, high cost events’,” in the nuclear industry, as the nuclear industry knows that no risk is acceptable. 



Safety is not only a question of regulations and procedures. Safety is part of the nuclear industry’s fabric. It is part of the mindset and culture. That is why it can always be improved. It is fair to recognize that safety improvements are regularly implemented, at both design and operational levels, especially over the 30 year span since Three Mile Island.

The latest generation of reactors marries this mentality and decades of improvements. AREVA’s EPR reactor design has advanced safety features, providing even greater provisions for the risks arising from internal and external hazards. The reactor is both a reinforced steel and concrete box: whatever happens outside, no impact inside; whatever happens inside, no impact outside. The accident consequences are limited by an optimal combination of passive and active safety systems.

The EPR reactor is designed to resist an airplane crash with a double containment shell. There is a quadruple redundancy with independent trains for each safeguard system, core melt catcher and an even lower probability of core damage. 


But let’s not forget that the independent regulatory for the industry, the U. S. Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC). Every nuclear power plant in the United States receives more than 2,000 hours of inspection and oversight activity each year from the NRC, in addition to a minimum of two resident inspectors on site at every plant every day of the year.

The nuclear industry is thinking of the risks both big and small and is working to prevent risks that don’t yet exist. Because no risk is acceptable.

By Bob Fishman, CEO, AREVA Solar


There’s a lot of buzz about the global opportunity for the concentrated solar power (CSP) industry. And there’s a great deal of excitement about the potential of CSP in the energy market.

As part of this excitement, over 100 solar industry professionals attending the CSP Today Summit visited our Kimberlina solar thermal power plant today to see firsthand our superheat steam technology in action.

But as I told them, our ability as an industry to transform this potential into a robust global market depends on our individual ability to be cost-competitive, reliable and bankable.

As a 30-year veteran of the power industry, I know there are three questions that power customers will ask about a CSP project. I’m confident the marketplace will reward CSP companies that can answer “Yes” to all three challenging questions:

1. Is your project bankable?
2. Do you have prices that you can deliver on?
3. Are your technology and commercial offerings backed by proven, reliable operating data that meet power and industrial customer needs?

read more…


AREVA is proud to have been nominated and selected as a Top Workplace in the San Francisco Bay Area, ranking 29 out of 35 in the small company category for its San Jose offices.

We have been present in the Bay Area with our Benicia office for many years. In 2007, we established the San Jose office to take advantage of the rich talent pool of technology professionals in the Silicon Valley region.



In March 2010, AREVA purchased a solar company in Mountain View adding about 70 people to our Bay Area locations.


As AREVA hires and retains talented employees, the company strives to provide a motivating work environment, competitive total compensation, and flexibility that supports employees and their families.


The Top Workplaces ranking is based on employees’ feedback through an independent survey and demonstrates their appreciation for the company’s work environment and commitments.


The Top Workplaces recognition is provided by an independent organization, Workplace Dynamics, and recognizes excellent employers based on employees’ feedback regarding the work environment, values and ethics, compensation, training and development opportunities, leadership, and the company’s future prospects.

Today marked a symbolic milestone in the construction of the Olkiluoto 3 EPR™ reactor in Finland with the installation of the reactor pressure vessel in the reactor building.

Director of the OL3 Project, Jean-Pierre Mouroux, declared that, “We are very proud of this world’s first, which stretches AREVA’s lead in the construction of generation 3+ reactors.”

More information on this construction landmark can be found here.

NEI’s Nuclear Notes Blog is hosting the 6th Carnival of Nuclear Energy highlighting a week’s worth of discussions and interesting links. We appreciate the shout out to AREVA and the announcement of our new cold crucible for waste vitrification at the La Hague facility.

Today, at AREVA’s La Hague Facility in France, CEO Anne Lauvergeon inaugurated the cold crucible, celebrating the first use of this advanced technology. This world first for the vitrification for high-level waste has been under development in collaboration with CEA (Atomic Energy Commission) for more than 25 years.

The principle of the cold crucible is to induce electric currents directly in the glass to raise its temperature without heating the crucible. The advantages of the technology include increased frequency of the vitrification, longer equipment life span, and the ability to vitrify wider range of products and reduce the volume of final waste.

Lauvergeon emphasized that “the cold crucible is an illustration of AREVA’s intention to continue and reinforce its research and development policy in order to continue to make innovation available to its customers.”

More information on this major technologic step forward here.

In an announcement concerning the Nuclear Energy Technology Roadmap published today, the International Energy Agency declared that “nuclear energy is one of the key low-carbon energy technologies.”

As part of the IEA scenario to reach a 50% cut in energy-related CO2 emissions by 2050, the organization has proposed that nuclear energy capacity grow threefold, to 1,200 GWe, providing 24% of world electricity production in 40 years time. The IEA described this growth as “ambitious but achievable.”

The press release notes that challenges remain to this expansion, including policy, financial, and public acceptance, but “the roadmap finds that nuclear power is a mature, low-carbon technology that is ready to expand rapidly over the coming decades. The latest reactor designs, now under construction around the world, build on over 50 years of technology development. The roadmap notes that these designs will need to be fully established as reliable and competitive electricity generators over the next few years if they are to become the mainstays of nuclear expansion after 2020.”

While it is not summer solstice quiet yet, it is Global Wind Day. As part of an event designed to raise worldwide awareness of the benefits of wind energy, the American Wind Energy Association is encouraging people to learn more about this renewable energy source. More info here.

For another look at wind, this video offers a great view of the offshore, 5 megawatt wind turbine developed and built by AREVA. As part of our commitment to a portfolio of CO2-free energy solutions, AREVA recently confirmed its commitment to developing this important, renewable energy source.