The year started off with a strong affirmation from President Obama during his State of the Union address by saying:

“But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. That means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country.”

And AREVA welcomed Obama’s support of nuclear energy.

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.)

We’re taking it a little easy over here while we enjoy the holidays, but we wanted to share this cool photo of construction on AREVA’s EPR at Flamanville, France (click to enlarge):

Hope you’re having a great holiday season!

Patrick Bourdet, President and CEO, AREVA Med

We have discussed our efforts in nuclear medicine and the AREVA Med project a couple of times on the blog before, and now I am very pleased tell you about our new website, www.arevamed.com.

Here you will be able to discover more information on the project’s history, basic and technical merit. Through innovation, AREVA Med is determined to develop new powerful anticancer treatments. Please check back often for updates and news as we continue to our efforts in therapies to target cancer.

I hope you are as excited as the AREVA Med team is for this project and what it can bring for oncologists and patients to combat cancer.
-Patrick Bourdet
President and Chief Executive Officer, AREVA Med

AREVA Inc. will form a Community Advisory Council (CAC) to raise greater awareness of the benefits of clean energy technology, including nuclear energy and renewables, and to build a working group of representatives from influential organizations who will informally advise the company on energy and sustainability issues. At the same time, company representatives can respond to questions and concerns about these issues.

“When it is about energy, there must be no taboo subjects. All issues, including the tricky ones, must be on the table. And when it is about nuclear energy in particular, public concerns must be taken seriously and addressed honestly. If Governments must show leadership and continuity, nuclear industry must be open to public debate. And we – AREVA – are convinced that, through genuine dialog, all legitimate concerns can be overcome,” said Laurence Pernot, vice president of communications at AREVA. “That is why we have decided to create this Council…to foster a dialog. For us, it is key and the only way to build sane relationships with our stakeholders.”

The National Associations of Neighborhoods (NAN) and Labor Council for Latin American Advancement have signed on to co-chair the Council, and several of the attending organizations have indicated desire to participate in AREVA’s’ Community Advisory Board.

As part of the work of the Council, the members will receive periodic briefings from AREVA to learn about more about upcoming technologies, business plans and company announcements, More so, we see this as an opportunity seek insight from some of the best minds and often overlooked communities on these important issues so critical to the energy debate.

The new initiative was announced a recent briefing and dinner in Washington, D.C., attended by energy, minority, consumer, environmental groups and think tanks to learn more about AREVA’s solutions for clean energy production, including nuclear energy and renewables, and its sustainability efforts. Attendees learned about AREVA technology, including our EPR reactor, used nuclear fuel recycling, and our renewable business in biopower (ADAGE), solar and offshore wind.

We were excited to have so many diverse groups in attendance, including the National Urban League, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the US Conference of Mayors, League of United Latin American Citizens, Earth Echo International, MANA: A National Latina Organization, the Democratic Governors Association, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Center for Asian American Women, National Latino Coalition on Climate Change, the Progressive Policy Institute, the National Association of Neighborhoods, Cuban American National Council, the National Puerto Rican Coalition, National Council of Asian American Business, the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute, Greenlining Institute, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association.

A few representatives from the organizations, such as Ricardo Byrd of the National Association of Neighborhoods and Hazel Edney from National Newspaper Publishers Association had toured several AREVA facilities in France and told the group about their visit and personal experiences. Specifically, they both commented how they both returned from the visit to these facilities with a better understanding of new nuclear technology and how they hope to dispel many common and outdated misconceptions of nuclear energy.

To learn more about AREVA, future briefings or AREVA Inc.’s Community Advisory Council please contact: Susan Hess, Director of External Relations at 301-841-1693 or susan.hess@areva.com.

The Daily Press of Newport News, Virginia has a poll up on their website asking if AREVA Newport News is good for the Newport News area – and we’re pleased to report that at the moment, 66% of respondents say “yes.” We (obviously) couldn’t agree more! Not only will the AREVA Newport News facility bring hundreds of jobs to the Newport News area, but it’ll also bring heavy components manufacturing back to the U.S. – reducing our dependence on foreign suppliers. Though this poll isn’t scientific, it’s still a good indicator that people in the Newport News area agree with us, and are excited about our partnership and the benefit to the local economy.

Architectural rendition of AREVA Newport News

by Laura Clise

Going into the last day of the conference in Copenhagen, AREVA Vice President of Sustainable Development and Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce Environment and Energy Committee Laurent Corbier chatted with Kai Ryssdal of the Marketplace program produced by American Public Media (their conversation aired yesterday on NPR). Laurent emphasizes that while many companies have already begun investing in a low-carbon energy economic future, “signals” from the world’s leaders that may eventually provide a consistent regulatory framework are critical to accelerating that investment.

In addition to providing low-carbon energy generation solutions, AREVA is an active member and leader in international sustainable development associations such as the International Chamber of Commerce, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Business for Social Responsibility, and the United Nations Global Compact.

The text and audio are available here.

We’ve said it before, but we’ll let someone else say it this time, “with 10 percent unemployment and a government determined to stimulate economic growth and put people back to work, what better use for our stimulus programs than building a series of nuclear facilities around the country?”

This astute statement is from a piece by Raymond J. Learsy Sunday in The Huffington Post. Learsy’s point is that nuclear energy is a clean reliable energy source—and it also means energy security, jobs, and potential economic base.

We hear much about the job-creating possibilities of new clean energy technologies. They should go forward at full speed. But in nuclear power, we have a preeminent technology being sought out by others and vast knowledge in an energy field that is that the top of the agenda for many nations in a world needing efficient and clean energy solutions. And here we are, going close to nothing in bringing about a nuclear renaissance to our own communities even when it could be at the core of dealing with climate change and a key stimulus to our labor market.

Learsy emphasizes India’s and China’s substantial commitments to new nuclear builds. These two developing countries already have dozens under construction or planned for the next 20 years, which means the United States is steadily losing its leadership in nuclear diplomacy and technological development. The change is happening, and we are falling behind.

A key factor to kick-start building U.S. energy infrastructure is to allow for used fuel recycling, as Learsy puts it:

A first and important step would be to reverse President Carter’s almost unilateral “indefinite deferral” of our plans to reprocess and recycle used nuclear fuel because of concerns that reprocessing could contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. President Carter expected other nationals to follow his lead, but they did not, recognizing Carter’s policy offered no viable path to prevent proliferation.

• More information on Recycling and AREVA’s expertise in the field

by Mary Douglas
Reprinted from AREVA Energy Business, Issue 8

Other Carbon-Free Energies

Nuclear is only one option, albeit a key one, among AREVA’s range of carbon-free energy choices. The group is developing synergistic solutions including a range of renewable energies that make sense in a balanced energy mix.

Renewable energy use is increasing worldwide. In emerging countries they supply inexpensive electricity from local resources. In Europe and North America they help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Europe has set an objective of a 20% share for renewable energies in final energy consumption by 2020, and AREVA has technologies capable of supporting that growth.

The group is currently offering its customers a portfolio of four renewable energies: wind power, bioenergy, concentrated solar power, as well as next-generation hydrogen carrier and storage solutions. Several of these have already reached technical maturity, such as wind power and bio energies. They can still be improved in terms of yield and distribution. For example, following its acquisition of 51% of Multibrid in 2007, AREVA has developed pioneering technology to become a leader in the emerging offshore wind power market.

In bioenergy, AREVA is no. 1 in turnkey solutions. The group has built over 100 operating bioenergy power units all over the world, totaling more than 2,800 MWe of installed capacity. AREVA is also reshaping the hydrogen industry by providing CO2-free Hydrogen production. These solutions enable hydrogen to be generated via electrolysis and electricity from fuel cells, with no greenhouse gas emissions.

AREVA is also developing concentrated solar power solutions, which will deliver more than 20% efficiency and grid parity.

Improving Efficiency of Nuclear Power Generation and Fuel Management

The cleanest energy is energy that is not used at all. AREVA is working to improve efficiency in both power generation and fuel supply. The aim is to maximize the availability of operating nuclear power plants to produce more energy with the same amount of fuel. It includes working to improve load factors at new reactors such as the state-of-the-art Generation III+ EPR™ reactor.

AREVA's Saint Alban plant in France

One advantage of this new generation of reactors is its fuel burn-up coefficient. Compared to the previous generation reactor, the EPR™ reduces uranium consumption by 15% for the same amount of electricity generated. In line with its commitment to sustainable development and environmental protection – by making energy more efficient – AREVA is also helping to conserve valuable resources by improving fuel management. Reusable uranium and plutonium are recovered from used fuel for recycling in nuclear reactors as MOX fuel (a mixture of the two materials) or as enriched reprocessed uranium (ERU). Using its advanced technologies, AREVA is therefore able to recycle 96% of the materials contained in used nuclear fuel which significantly reduces the volume and radiotoxicity of final waste to be disposed of. Through its recycling operation, under strict international safeguards, AREVA also supports non-proliferation objectives since used fuel is unloaded from a power plants it can be sent directly to recycling operations and MOX production, avoiding the accumulation and aging of used nuclear fuel at multiple reactor sites worldwide..

Waking to the Dangers

The world is finally awakening to the dangers of climate change, and as a global leader in solutions for CO2-free power generation AREVA is ready to offer its entire portfolio of energy solutions to solve the problems which will increasingly face its customers.

In July, leaders at G8 agreed to at least a 50% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with developed countries achieving an 80% reduction to ensure that global average temperatures do not rise by more than 2ºC above preindustrial levels.

In October, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Washington was “deeply committed” to finding a solution to climate change in the run-up to Copenhagen. “This is a fundamental trust we are about to break if we don’t act as aggressively as we can,” he told a meeting at the IEA in Paris. AREVA is well prepared to meet this challenge.

• AREVA Leads the Way in Tackling Climate Change, Part I
• Find the article on page 22 of AREVA Energy Business Magazine

by Jarret Adams

Vice President Joe Biden

According to a report by Vice President Joe Biden, the administration’s clean energy programs are expected to help create some 700,000 jobs. He said that the $787 billion Recovery Act is helping spur investment in new clean energy technologies, including wind, solar, energy efficiency and perhaps even nuclear energy. According to the ABC News blog:

“I’m pleased to report that the administration is laying the foundation for a clean energy economy that will create a new generation of jobs, reduce dependence on oil and enhance national security,” Biden begins his memo to Obama.

Biden notes in the memo that “Recovery Act investments in renewable generation and advanced energy manufacturing of $23 billion will likely create 253,000 jobs and leverage over $43 billion in additional investment that could support up to 469,000 more jobs, putting us on track to meet the goal of doubling our renewable energy generation, including solar, wind and geothermal, in just 3 years.”

Smart grid investments through the plan are expected to create some 43,000 jobs. AREVA T&D is participating in one of these initiatives to develop the smart grid systems.

Regarding nuclear energy, the Vice President also reports that “by the end of our first two years in office, we will have provided conditional commitments for loan guarantees for two nuclear power operators to add three to four new nuclear reactors.”

That’s great, but weren’t there four companies listed as finalists for the loan guarantees? And DOE officials have said that the first loan guarantee for a nuclear project could be issued by the end of this year.