From this weekend’s Wall Streeet Journal Op Ed:

“We’ve essentially fallen 10 years behind the rest of the world in nuclear technology, but the Obama administration’s decision to support nuclear will finally get the ball rolling. Within a decade we may very well catch up with the rest of the world in developing the energy technology of the 21st century.”

- William Tucker, Author “Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Power Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America’s Energy Odyssey“

We think these are a very good series of questions… and are proud to among the companies and organizations asking them.

Construction at MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility in South Carolina

A recent report from the National Center for Policy Analysis examines the growing demand for U.S. energy needs and the requirements that this energy comes from a renewable or carbon-free source.  The National Center for Policy Analysis finds in its report that “to meet this growing demand nuclear energy remains one of the safest and more reliable forms of energy available—it also emits no greenhouse gases…Nuclear power is reliable, sustainable, and clean.”

Reliable?
“Solar and wind require backup from coal, natural gas or nuclear power plants for day-to-day baseload power or for on-demand peaking power.  By contrast, the output from nuclear power plants can be adjusted based on user demand and to keep the electricity grid at maximum efficiency.”

Sustainable?
“An additional supply of nuclear fuel is readily available, after reprocessing, in the more-than-15,000 plutonium pits removed from dismantled U.S. nuclear weapons.”*

“An even larger fuel supply can be found in spent fuel rods from existing reactors.  Thus, recycling could provide an almost unlimited supply of nuclear fuel in the United State.  Recycling spent fuel would significantly decrease the problem of nuclear waste disposal.  Reprocessing can also be a boon to local communities and create jobs.”

Clean?
Nuclear power has among the lowest CO2 emissions of all energy sources.  Paul J. Meier of the University of Wisconsin analyzed CO2 emissions from various electric power sources over their entire lifecycle…Meier found that for every gigawatt hour (one billion watt hours) of electricity generated”:
-Coal emits 1,041 tons of CO2 equivalent
-Natural gas emits 622 tons
-Solar emits 39 tons
-Hydropower emits 18 tons
And nuclear power emits only 17 tons of CO2.

Check out the entire report, Nuclear Power and the U.S. Energy Future.

*(AREVA is a partner in the construction of this plant, the MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility, currently being built in South Carolina to turn these warheads into fuel for a reliable power supply.)

Image of U.S. EPR™

By Katherine Berezowskyj

Last week, AREVA and Fresno Nuclear Energy Group (FNEG), LLC announced that they have signed a Letter of Intent to formalize their work together in the development of a nuclear power plant project for the Fresno, California area.

This Letter of Intent means that AREVA and Fresno Nuclear Energy Group will begin cooperation on the initial development and permitting process for one or possibly two of AREVA’s U.S. EPR™ plants, beginning with the preparation of the Early Site Permit and subsequent Combined License Application to be submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

John Hutson, President of the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group commented how “AREVA shares our commitment to carbon-free, renewable energy; like us, they believe that nuclear is only part of the solution—AREVA is a world leader in designing wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable energy systems, as well.”

The objective of the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group is to provide an environmentally responsible source of electricity especially to develop the state’s critical agricultural industry and support wildlife preservations efforts that are so vital to the Central Valley of California.

And nuclear energy isn’t just an environmentally responsible energy option; a new U.S. EPR™ would create up to 11,000 direct and indirect jobs during component manufacturing (including AREVA’s Newport News heavy component facility in Virginia) and plant construction.  On top if this, construction and operation would also create more than 400 permanent jobs and spur billion of dollars in investment in the local economy.  When the U.S. EPR™ is up and running it would produce clean, reliable baseload electricity for more than 1.6 million homes.

For more information about this historic partnership for clean energy in California check out the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group, LLC, the U.S. EPR™ by AREVA, and official Press Release.

Thomas Friedman

“I think climate change is real. You don’t? That’s your business. But there are two other huge trends barreling down on us with energy implications that you simply can’t deny. And the way to renew America is for us to take the lead and invent the technologies to address these problems.

The first is that the world is getting crowded. According to the 2006 U.N. population report, “The world population will likely increase by 2.5 billion … passing from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050. This increase is equivalent to the total size of the world population in 1950, and it will be absorbed mostly by the less developed regions, whose population is projected to rise from 5.4 billion in 2007 to 7.9 billion in 2050.”

The energy, climate, water and pollution implications of adding another 2.5 billion mouths to feed, clothe, house and transport will be staggering….

Now, add one more thing. The world keeps getting flatter — more and more people can now see how we live, aspire to our lifestyle and even take our jobs so they can live how we live. So not only are we adding 2.5 billion people by 2050, but many more will live like “Americans” — with American-size homes, American-size cars, eating American-size Big Macs….

So either the opponents of a serious energy/climate bill with a price on carbon don’t care about our being addicted to oil and dependent on petro-dictators forever or they really believe that we will not be adding 2.5 billion more people who want to live like us, so the price of oil won’t go up very far…

Green hawks believe otherwise. We believe that in a world getting warmer and more crowded with more “Americans,” the next great global industry is going to be E.T., or energy technology based on clean power and energy efficiency. It has to be.”

Greenpeace militants yesterday boarded a ship transporting steam generators to the Olkiluoto 3 EPR reactor in Finland.

The organization’s action, taken in the run-up to December’s climate summit in Copenhagen, is a protest against nuclear energy, which it claims would harm efforts to combat climate change.

Once again, Greenpeace has attacked the wrong target – while no one claims nuclear power is THE solution, it is widely accepted as being ONE of the solutions that can help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

To quote a well-known saying, “Our house is burning and we are looking the other way.” If we apply this metaphor, then Greenpeace’s attempts to stand in the way of nuclear power is like preventing a trusted fire service from getting to the blaze.

In the United States, for example, nuclear energy is by far the largest source of CO2-free electricity production and plays a significant role in preventing additional greenhouse gas emissions.  Its role in preventing emissions is even greater in France, because the country receives roughly 80% of its electricity from nuclear energy.

AREVA is saddened that Greenpeace refuses to engage in a calmer debate on energy issues. According to AREVA spokesperson Jacques-Emmanuel Saulnier, “This buccaneering behavior is the thanks AREVA gets for opening up to this association, which for instance was welcomed just last week to its mining sites in Niger. If Greenpeace wants to find out more about steam generators, it doesn’t need to show off like this – the doors of the Chalon Saint-Marcel plant are wide open for it to come and see how these reactor components are made.”

by Katherine Berezowkyj

David J.C. Mackay’s recent piece in the New York Times discussed a question that surprisingly few have considered amid rising concerns about future energy supplies, “Where will the world get its energy from next ─ when, inevitably, humans stop using fossil fuels?”

The Cambridge University physics professor has broken down the debate by asking:
“How much energy does our chosen lifestyle use?”
“How much land area do we have?”
“And how much could we produce, from each source, and at what cost?”

He asks these questions because to consider using only renewable energy sources to power a country, it’s necessary to know how much power that country uses relative to its size.

Mackay says that knowing how much land area is used by power sources is valuable because “almost all renewables are harvested on land, and it is possible to quantify the potential power production from renewables in exactly the same consumption: watts per square meter.”
“Countries with power consumption per unit area of more than 1 watt per square meter, like Britain, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium and South Korea, would have to industrialize much of their countryside to live on their own renewables. Alternatively, their options are to radically reduce consumption, use nuclear power and buy additional renewable power from other, less densely populated, countries.”
Mackay also describes what a portfolio of one-third wind, desert solar, and nuclear power would be:

If a country with the size and population of Britain — 61 million people — adopted that mix, the land area occupied by wind farms would be nearly 10 percent of the country, or roughly the size of Wales. The area occupied by desert solar power stations — in the case of Britain, they would have to be connected by long-distance power lines — would be five times the size of London. The 50 nuclear power stations required would occupy a more modest 50 square kilometers.

This is not to downplay the importance of renewables to meeting the future energy needs of the United States and other highly developed nations. AREVA fully supports a range of renewable generation and is actively engaged in developing biopower and offshore wind projects around the world. However, it is important to recognize different energy sources bring with them distinct requirements that cannot be ignored as options are discussed.

The rest of his article, “Illuminating the Future of Energy,” really breaks down these watts per square meter calculations for a look at renewable options.

For a look at his book, “Sustainable Energy—Without the Hot Air,” see www.withouthotair.com.

Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of AREVA

For nearly half a century, non-proliferation treaties and other multinational collaborations have helped facilitate the safe expansion of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. But some wonder whether the benefits of the so-called “nuclear renaissance” are worth the increased risks of the technology and potentially dangerous materials being used as weapons by terrorists, recalcitrant governments, and other groups that care little for the benefits of international cooperation.

AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon addressed these concerns in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s 2009 Conference on Nonproliferation in Washington, D.C.

Lauvergeon noted that while governments bear primary responsibility for effectively preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, the nuclear industry can and must play a critical role as well.

“We have entered a world where nuclear industry is not to be seen as part of the problem, as it could have in the past, nor as a passive actor, but as an active part of the solution,” she said.

Citing corporate policies such as AREVA’s own Values Charter, which mandates working only with customers from countries that conform to international nonproliferation norms and obligations, and the emergence of reprocessing protocols that limit access to used fuel, Lauvergeon called the international growth of nuclear energy, “a unique opportunity to promote an enhanced culture of nonproliferation.”

The key, she explained, is to promote initiatives such as an international fuel bank that would help developing nations rectify their acute energy imbalances, and a well-functioning, closed fuel cycle market that would provide enrichment and used fuel recycling services at competitive prices. Such measures, she said, would minimize any incentive for non-nuclear countries to acquire fuel recycling and enrichment facilities of their own.

Noting how AREVA has already treated more than 20,000 tons of used fuel from seven countries, “The experience shows that, under the right framework, treatment and recycling are a very good option,” said Lauvergeon.

In closing, Mme. Lauvergeon said that the ongoing nuclear renaissance offers the world “a tremendous opportunity to meeting the energy, economic and environmental needs of both developed and developing countries, for the lifetime of our children and beyond. This, without increasing the risk of nuclear weapons.”

A transcript and video of the Conference are available here.

From left: Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy; Jean-Pierre Benque, President of EDF North America; Anne Lauvergeon, CEO of AREVA; Ted Strickland, Governor of Ohio; and Randy Runyon, SODI Director

by Katherine Berezowskyj

It couldn’t have been said better: “Investing in new nuclear power plants, which produce electricity 24 hours a day and seven days a week, can be a major growth engine for our economy,” while also being an energy source that is “tailor-made for addressing climate change.” This came from Jim Rogers, the CEO and President of Duke Energy, in an editorial yesterday in the Wall Street Journal. Rogers spoke about how the United States is not leading the charge in developing green energy technology, but he made the point “we are still the world’s largest operator of commercial nuclear power. We have 104 licensed commercial nuclear reactors—generating about 20% of our electricity and more than 70% of all carbon-free electricity.”

Of these 104 nuclear reactors, Duke Energy has seven, and they are planning to build three more. One of these three includes a reactor proposed as part of the recent announcement of the first U.S. Clean Energy Park Project for Ohio. The park is an alliance between key players—Duke Energy, AREVA, Unistar Nuclear Energy, USEC Inc., and Sothern Ohio Diversification Initiative—in which they will look at the Department of Energy site in Portsmouth, Ohio as a potential location for a new nuclear power plant. As part of the development, the project will focus on the deployment of Generation III + reactors on the site, which will include an evaluation of AREVA’s US EPR™ technology.

The construction and operation a new nuclear power plant, like the one under consideration for the Clean Energy Park in Ohio, creates thousands of jobs during construction and hundreds during operation. This is exactly what Rogers points out, “Our private-sector expertise and interest in new nuclear plants is causing regional energy hubs to sprout up, creating thousands of well-paying jobs.” One of these hubs is Charlotte, N.C., where Duke Energy has its headquarters. You will also find 600 AREVA employees here, and during this next year, our numbers will be growing throughout the United States as we are hiring another 600 people. And the economic benefit of nuclear energy does not stop there, as he refers to how “each year the average nuclear plant generates approximately $430 million in sales of goods and services in the local community and nearly $40 million in total labor income.”

While nuclear energy is the most reliable form of CO2-free energy, Rogers concludes that “We must also invest in and expand our use of wind, solar, and other new renewable energy technologies,” which includes a key partnership in renewable energy between Duke Energy and AREVA. This joint venture, ADAGE, is currently working to develop 50 megawatt biopower plants that will use clean wood waste as fuel to produce electricity. They recently announced the first proposed site for their biomass plant in Hamilton County, Florida.

Be sure to check out of the rest of Jim Rogers’s editorial “Why Nuclear Power is Part of Our Future” here.

By Laura Clise

On June 3, the U.S. State Department Global Partnerships Initiative, the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator and TED hosted TED@State, New Ideas for a Better world. TED is a non-profit organization dedicated to the spread of attitude-changing, life-changing, and world-changing ideas. TED@State brought together a diverse and dynamic group of speakers, but better than any notes I could provide, you can check out the actual footage from each speaker’s presentation on the TED website (available soon) and or and read a summary of the presented material on the TED Blog.

While the event was personally of interest to me (I have a passion for international development and my best friend from business school is currently working as an Acumen Fellow for TED@State speaker, Jacqueline Novogratz), my professional reason for attending TED@State was directly linked to the ongoing global dialogue regarding development, energy, and climate change.

Social media analyst Clay Shirky talked about the impact of the shifting media landscape, something with which AREVA is already familiar through the AREVA Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin pages. Futurist and environmentalist Stewart Brand discussed the implications of increased urbanization and also the critical role that base-load nuclear energy must contribute to our low-carbon energy future. Acumen Fund CEO Jacqueline Novogratz talked about facilitating bottom up entrepreneurial solutions to poverty alleviation and noted that effective solutions start from the perspective of those her organization is trying to help. This mentality is akin to the way we develop the products and services that we offer. Economist Paul Collier talked about the importance of sustainable job creation, health, and clean government in post-conflict recovery. AREVA also believes that job creation is critical to economic vitality and will be hiring more than 700 people in North America this year. Finally, data visionary Hans Rosling provided a statistical argument for global convergence and talked as well about the importance of information and data transparency. AREVA has been committed to open communication and transparency since its inception in order to lift the veil of secrecy that used to shroud the nuclear energy industry.

The TED@State speakers articulated the complex geopolitical, social, cultural, and environmental contexts in which companies like AREVA are innovating solutions that meet the energy needs of development while at the same time taking into account implications for social and environmental impact.