We should note that UniStar, a joint venture of Constellation and EDF, has selected the U.S. EPR™ technology by AREVA for its new plant projects, the first of which will be Calvert Cliffs 3 in southern Maryland.

AREVA is glad to have another blog helping to shape the discussion of energy.
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Text of story is available below:

California has had a staunch resistance to nuclear power since 1976, but that hasn’t stopped French company AREVA from trying to get power plants in the state. Sarah Gardner observes the fight and weighs the odds.

Bill Radke: Is this country seeing a “nuclear renaissance?” President Obama has announced loan guarantees for two new reactors in Georgia, and some say that could be just the beginning. Try telling that to California. As Sarah Gardner reports from the Marketplace Sustainability Desk, the French are trying to break down California’s nuclear resistance.

California’s ban on new nuclear reactors has held strong since 1976. Just ask Republican assemblyman Chuck DeVore:

Chuck DeVore: Well I’ve drafted five bills over the last four years to try to allow for the construction of modern nuclear power plants in California and have been defeated every time.

DeVore also abandoned a voter initiative to lift the moratorium. But those failures don’t intimidate the French.

Jacques Besnainou: We want to build in California near Fresno.

Jacques Besnainou is CEO of AREVA North America. AREVA is the world’s largest builder of nuclear plants. It’s based in France, a country that gets three quarters of its power from nuclear. AREVA and its U.S. partners say they intend to build new reactors in central California. Besnainou argues if the most populous state really wants to cut global warming emissions, solar and wind won’t cut it.

Besnainou: Because you need power even when the sun doesn’t shine or the wind doesn’t blow. So nuclear energy is a great source of carbon-free energy. It runs 24/7.

Californians seem more sympathetic to nuclear power than they used to be. A statewide poll last summer showed 46 percent of Californians support more nuclear reactors, up from 37 percent just a few years before. But:

Marshall Cohen: California will be tough.

Nuclear lobbyist Marshall Cohen:

Cohen: The legislature, the way it’s set up right now, it’s tough to make something happen and get something through.

Republican Chuck DeVore insists that’s because groups like the Sierra Club have “a lock” on state Democratic lawmakers. He says a more likely scenario is that AREVA asks the courts to overturn the ban after California denies its request to build.

Perhaps that’s partly why AREVA’s Jacques Besnainou doesn’t see new reactors in California anytime soon. “We’re just at the beginning,” he says, “of a very, long, long process.”

I’m Sarah Gardner for Marketplace.

Starting today, the AREVA North America Next Energy Blog will host a week of posts exploring the topic of recycling used nuclear fuel.

To kick off our “Recycling Week” we have two great videos about AREVA’s recycling activities.  The first clip is from the Discovery Channel Program, “The Green Room.”  AREVA Executive V.P. Alan Hanson explains what happens at AREVA’s La Hague facility in France and the benefits that recycling provides.

We also want to highlight a great cartoon segment that explains the recycling process in simple terms and how this process provides broad sustainable and economic benefits.

Mr. Besnainou’s idea of complete transparency, and in politics not being able to pick your opponent is right on. The US nuclear industry has done the opposite, and has gotten us to the mess we are in.

In the beginning the scientists who developed nuclear energy in WWII knew and said that public education was key. Unfortunately it has always been someone else’s job. Scientists don’t go to public meetings, especially where there are opponents.

Some of us in the profession and industry have been reaching out to the public on our own, and through the American Nuclear Society’s Public Information Committee. Our efforts are weak compared to the anti-nukes who bring in the professional hit-men from Washington to local events. With no support from local utilities that have the money, the result is predictible. When its pros against ameteurs the pros win most of time.

The proof is the current debacle in Vermont, and the stoppage of Yucca mountain.

Thank goodness for Jacques Besnainou’s leadership.

Betrand Barré, the Scientific Advisor for AREVA and Professor Emeritus at the French National Institute for Nuclear Sciences and Technology, will respond directly to your questions on this issue.

You will be able to participate in the dialogue and ask your questions directly on areva.com.

Welcome to the upgraded new AREVA North America blog, Next Energy.

In addition to the upgrade of the look and feel of the site, to match the new overall graphical revamp of our main site, we have a few new features to point out:

• Firstly we have upgraded the whole site to WordPress 2.9, which offers a lot of benefits of speed and stability.
• Better Twitter and Facebook Integration: If you do like a post on the blog and want to share it to friends there is now a very simple (two clicks only) way to ReTweet the post, or to share it on Facebook.
• We’ve added a “Most Read” posts section in the sidebar to help you find popular new content
• We have upgraded the entire comments engine to work with Disqus Comments…
• You can now login to post comments now using your Twitter, Facebook or OpenID, not needing to create yet another login in order to take part in the blog community.
• As you write a comment, you can also send your comment to your Twitter and Facebook status update
• You can now vote up comments made you like, encouraging others to check them out
• It’s supports profile pictures of you that it can import from your Facebook, Twitter, or Gravatar accounts.
• You can now subscribe to a comment thread and get updates via email or RSS feeds
• Mobile Users: We now support the mobile browsers and have a custom mobile web interface for iPhone, Android & Blackberry Touch browsers.