By Laura Clise, Director, Sustainable Development and Continuous Improvement, AREVA

2012 marks the twentieth anniversary of the U.N. Conference on Environment and Development, otherwise known as the Earth Summit, which took place in 1992 in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. 2012 is also the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All in recognition of the fundamental role energy plays in supporting sustainable development. Throughout the first quarter, AREVA has engaged with our customers in a variety of collaborative forums focused on furthering progress toward our sustainable energy future in the U.S. and around the world. Tackling topics ranging from climate disclosure and investor relations, to access to energy, to supply chain sustainability, AREVA and our customers are working alongside government and non-governmental organizations (NGO) to support energy security and sustainability.
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We enjoy this UK blog and podcast put together by nuclear PhD students at the University of Manchester. As members of the Nuclear Society there, they regularly converse on nuclear energy topics, but realized all that insight remained trapped within their historic walls. So …

“…we decided it prudent and wise to start a podcast talking about these issues with the wider public in mind. Along with students from all sections of nuclear research, we aim to ramble on haphazardly about all things nuclear and question whether it is necessarily the imminent danger certain facets of the media would lead us to believe? We’ll talk about everything associated with nuclear from PWRs, EPRs,FCI, THORP, LLW, ILW, HLW and every other bewildering acronym under the Sun all the way through to perceptions of nuclear in film, books and the media!”

And they do.

A nuclear energy podcast based where Rutherford first split the atom seems right on many levels. Go check out this newest perspective on nuclear energy and their first podcast and post.

by Mia DeMezza, Executive Vice President, EarthEcho International

Everyone agrees that our country needs energy to survive. What we seem to disagree about is where that energy will come from and how we will produce it. At EarthEcho International, our goal is to provide young people, mainly middle and high school students, with the knowledge and skills to ensure the success of conservation efforts far into the future. On a recent fieldtrip with our friends at AREVA, I was offered an opportunity to learn more about those options.

A group of AREVA Community Advisory Council members spent the day at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with Susan Hess—AREVA’s Director, Public Relations and External Communications—and David Conrad—DOE’s Director for Tribal and Intergovernmental Affairs. The full day of briefings with staff members from the offices of Environmental Management, Legacy Management, Nuclear Energy, and the National Nuclear Security Administration gave us new-found understanding of the investments this country is making in nuclear energy—and why. In addition to learning more about what is being done today, we also received a short briefing on the findings from the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. Fascinating. Truly.

From EarthEcho’s position, the more information and resources we can share with our young audience and their educators about all energy options—including nuclear and renewables — the better informed they will be in making decisions to create change one family, one classroom, and one community at a time. Serving as a member of AREVA’s Corporate Advisory Council helps EarthEcho to do just that.

By Ricardo Byrd, Executive Director, National Association of Neighborhoods

As co-chair of the AREVA Community Advisory Council, I see firsthand everyday how committed AREVA is to making sure that diverse communities have a voice in the clean energy conversation. Most of the time, this is done behind the scenes with the public not knowing just how hard AREVA works to do this.

But last week, AREVA had an opportunity to publicly display its commitment to its community partners when it stepped up as a major co-sponsor of “Stateswoman for Justice: From Whence We’ve Come, Where We Are, Where We Must Go From Here,” convened by the Trice Edney Newswire, an African-American news service. Ms. Edney, President of the company, has served on the AREVA Community Advisory Council since its inception and has been a well-respected voice and resource for our group.
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We saw this excellent article from Justin Valez Hagan, who is the National Executive Director of The National Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, Sr. Contributing Writer for Politic365, and member of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition.
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Transnuclear Inc., an AREVA company, graduated the first class of trained operators from the newly upgraded NUHOMS® University (NU) training center; the first used fuel storage training facility in the United States to use full-scale, working casks and trailers for training.

The center, located in Aiken, SC, hosts a five-week INPO-certified basic training course to qualify utility, contractor and other field services personnel to safely use the dry storage industrial equipment prior to site work. Upon completing the course, students earn certification necessary to ensure proficiency with both NUHOMS® and safety culture principles.

Mike Williams, Director of Transnuclear’s Field Services and Operations group, shared his experience at NUHOMS® University:
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By Tom Stevens, Senior Consultant, AREVA

I first went to Japan a few weeks after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident as part of AREVA’s representation on the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Industry Support Team in Tokyo. The INPO team was advising Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and helping them assess and respond to the crisis. AREVA was very responsive to Japan’s needs during this crisis, and as part of that activity, I made four separate trips to Japan totaling 179 days in-country last year.

During one of my arrivals at the Tokyo airport, I got a first-hand sense of how profoundly Fukushima had affected the Japanese. As the customs official examined my passport, he asked how long I would be staying in Japan. Since I really did not know, I responded with “several weeks.” This did not go over well with the official, and he asked in an authoritative voice, “and just what will you be doing here in Japan?” I responded that I was here to help TEPCO resolve the Fukushima crisis. The official immediately handed me back my passport and sincerely thanked me for coming to Japan.
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By Mike Rencheck, COO, AREVA Inc

For the past 40+ years, a persistent focus on safety and safety upgrades by operators at the utilities’ 104 U.S. nuclear power reactors has ensured reliable, safe, and cost-effective electricity for millions of Americans. Following the Fukushima crisis, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is considering additional safety requirements and enhancements. Utilities have been proactively acting to ensure safe operations, while actively determining how to best meet these requirements … and AREVA has the solutions.

In the past year, AREVA has globally developed and launched the Safety Alliance, a comprehensive framework [PDF link] providing our utility customers with a proven, systematic analysis and implementation of effective safety enhancements.
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By Jean-François Béland
Executive Vice-President, AREVA Canada

During the year that has passed since the earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, many have questioned the future of nuclear energy in nations around the world. While a few nations have decided in the wake of Fukushima to move abruptly away from nuclear energy, many others have taken this opportunity to take a long hard look at this technology and have moved forcefully ahead.

Driven largely by internal political concerns, Germany declared it will gradually shutter its nuclear plants, opting instead to depend more on fossil fuels (domestic brown coal and imported Russian gas) and more renewables. But for the near term, Germans can expect higher electricity prices, more carbon emissions and imports of nuclear-produced electricity from France.
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By Robert Gee, President, Gee Strategies Group

Those who fantasize a country without nuclear power are about to get their wish. The aftermath of the accident at Fukushima Daiishi has left Japan with an increasingly narrowed set of options both for the welfare of its citizens and for its economy.

Before this incident, Japan’s economic planners had sketched a vision for its economic future that saw nuclear power use growing, as a percentage of power generation, from 30 percent in 2007 to 50 percent by 2030. That forecast was torn asunder by the events of March 11 of last year. Instead, owing to concerns about operational safety, Japan was forced to curtail use of 39 of its 50 nuclear reactors, excluding the 4 units at Fukushima Daiichi. During last summer when demand for power was at its peak, Japan’s residents and businesses were forced to adopt draconian energy efficiency measures to maintain grid reliability. During one peak day in August, consumption dropped 38 percent below levels experienced in the prior year. Thermostats were raised, businesses operated on rotating consumption cycles, and the population endured while gritting its collective teeth.
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