As the Obama Administration looks to help jumpstart job creation across the United States, it should look no farther than the nuclear energy sector. Nuclear energy already plays an important role in the U.S. economy, producing 20 percent of the nation’s electricity and employing some 120,000 hardworking Americans. Yet investment in new nuclear facilities will create many additional jobs during both the construction and operation phases.
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AREVA announced today that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has found no environmental impacts that would preclude issuing a license to build its Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The NRC issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement today saying in a statement that “environmental impacts from the facility would be generally small, and recommended issuing the license.”

“With the NRC Final Environmental Impact Statement, AREVA’s Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility continues its steady march forward toward regulatory approval. Based on current progress, we remain confident we can receive license approval for this facility this year,” said Sam Shakir, President and CEO of AREVA Enrichment Services.

Click here to read the NRC release.

In a major step for domestic energy security, the U.S. Department of Energy offered a conditional commitment for a $2 billion loan guarantee to facilitate financing of AREVA’s Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility under development near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Read the news of the announcement here.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a public meeting in Boise, Idaho, on Aug. 9 to hear from the public, elected officials and other stakeholders on the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the AREVA Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility under development near Idaho Falls. The NRC held this meeting in Boise at the behest of a Boise-based antinuclear group in addition to a previously scheduled public forum in Idaho Falls on Aug. 12.

AREVA welcomes these opportunities in Boise, Idaho Falls and elsewhere to allow people to learn more about the Eagle Rock project. We are developing a state-of-the-art uranium enrichment facility using proven, reliable and safe technology to produce fuel for commercial nuclear power plants.

Representatives for several elected officials, including Idaho Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter, members of the Idaho delegation and others expressed their support for the Eagle Rock project at the Boise meeting. Also many members of Idaho’s business community praised the positive economic impact the project would have, including the creation of thousands of jobs. Others expressed concerns about the potential environmental impact of the facility. While views ran the spectrum, this well-run meeting by the NRC offered a good opportunity for stakeholders to learn more about the project.

“AREVA is excited to be a part of Idaho’s business community, and we look forward to continuing our work with the state and the people of southeastern Idaho,” said Bob Poyser, vice president of regional affairs at AREVA. “We plan to build and operate a safe, environmentally sustainable, world class facility that is important to America’s energy security, important to our American utility customers and important to the advancement of Idaho’s continued leadership in nuclear programs.”

Click here for more information on the Eagle Rock project.

We’d like to bring your attention to this article from KIDK.com (the local Idaho Falls television station), which talks about how Idaho Falls is weathering the current economic storm. The article, which is mostly about businesses in the Idaho Falls region, points out at the very end that AREVA’s planned Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility is bringing new hope to the region:

The biggest change our area will see will be the arrival of Areva and their multi-billion dollar uranium enrichment facility.

Not only will the company hire locals or bring in new jobs that will stimulate our local economy, a very hurting construction industry will be major benefactors of the company. [. . .]

Areva is likely to bring between 800 and 1,000 construction jobs alone. And once the facility is running, more than 300 jobs will be created.

That’s the kind of thing that can really help a local economy… because the money paid to the people who work those 800-1,000 construction jobs, and the 300+ permanent jobs, will keep circulating around the Idaho Falls region as the employees patronize local businesses and services. Idaho Falls is just one community that’s finding new vitality in the green jobs of the nuclear renaissance.

The nuclear energy industry has not always been the most popular kid on the block—thanks in part to some gross misinformation that gets passed around. However, a recent piece by Corey Taule in the Idaho Falls Post Register factually addressed some inaccurate claims made by the Snake River Alliance about AREVA’s planned Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility. Taule argues that Alliance claims like “Uranium Enrichment—It’s About the Bomb!” and “Tell Your Neighbors—Uranium Enrichment is ‘an open road to a nuclear weapon,” will not be persuasive because, as Taule points out, “Eastern Idaho is pro-nuclear and educated about the issue.”

He points out that “America’s nuclear plants need enriched uranium to produce power. The concentration of U-235, the fissionable isotope in uranium, need to be increased from .07 percent to between 3 percent and 5 percent for use as a nuclear fuel. That’s where AREVA’s centrifuge process comes in,” and that Eagle Rock will not have the capacity to generate “weapons-grade fuel [that] generally comes in at about 85 percent.”

Answering the Alliance’s claims about depleted uranium disposal, he refers to the fact that “AREVA has said repeatedly it will not store depleted uranium on site. We live here. This is our backyard…So where will it go? Depleted uranium has commercial applications as tank armor and counterweights. As to the leftover, federal law requires the government accept depleted uranium with no commercial value.”

The Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility will have an estimated multi-billon dollar economic impact and create hundreds of jobs. It also will meet 25 percent of the nation’s critical enrichment needs, especially considering “that if the U.S. is serious about reducing carbon emissions, nuclear must become a greater part of the nation’s power portfolio. That means building more nuclear power plants. Some estimate that even after AREVA’s Eagle Rock facility comes online, America will still import 25 percent of its enriched uranium from Russia.”

The whole piece from Sunday October 25, “Watching the Watchdog,” is worth a read.

For more information about the planned Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility, the potential economic impact, U.S. enrichment needs, and AREVA’s commitments to sustainable development, safety and the environment, check here.

by Jarret Adams

Today’s Washington Times contains an excellent op-ed piece by John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers and former Michigan governor, on the pending nuclear deal with the United Arab Emirates. Mr. Engler calls on Congress to approve the 123 agreement that would pave the way for the U.A.E. to develop a commercial nuclear power sector, but he cautions that this endorsement should bring some benefit for U.S. industry.

We should expect these steps taken to facilitate the United Arab Emirates program will pay dividends in terms of new jobs and a resurgent nuclear power industry in the United States.

An AREVA-Bechtel consortium is a bidder for the U.A.E. nuclear deal, which calls for up to four reactors and related services. If our bid is selected, we are well positioned to provide plant components from Newport News, Va., enrichment services from Idaho Falls, Idaho, and technological know-how from many locations around the country. And that means more U.S. jobs.

Click here to read the rest of Mr. Engler’s piece.

Beginning this week, as part of our mission to expand CO2-free energy in the United States, AREVA has launched a six-week campaign that highlights our American job creation and contribution to clean-air energy generation in the U.S.

The ad points out that we have 6,000 employees currently working throughout the country building a new American generation for energy generation. We are excited to convey AREVA’s critical impact on the American economy, including our strong relationships with our 5,000 American suppliers.

AREVA's American Jobs Ad - click to enlarge

This impact includes the thousand of jobs and billions in investment that we are creating right now with two of our latest projects. The AREVA Newport News facility is a partnership with Northrop Grumman to build a $363 million manufacturing plant. This facility now under construction in Virginia will bring back to American soil the capability to build critical reactor components. Another important project is our Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility in Idaho. In addition to creating over 5,000 jobs and billions of dollars in investment, this state-of-the-art facility will provide indispensable domestically enriched uranium to fuel our American reactor fleet, strengthening our nation’s energy security.

You will be able to see AREVA’s ad on these sites and publications during September and October:

• The Hill
• National Journal
• Politico
• Salon

Or pick up a copy of today’s Washington Post.