Today AREVA celebrated the inauguration of a new state-of-the-art centrifuge enrichment facility. As the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility planned for Idaho is still on the drawing board, its sister facility, George Besse II plant in France honored a major project milestone.
George Besse II Enrichment Plant
More than 100 customers from over a dozen countries joined AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon to watch the first container of uranium as it entered the facility—a decisive step in this massive construction project. Work at the facility will now focus on increasing plant capacity which is expected to be 7.5 million SWU (Separative Work Units) and full capacity should be reached in 2016, two years ahead of schedule.
Both Georges Besse II and the Eagle Rock Enrichment facilities will use advanced enrichment technology that requires 50 times less electricity than the current industry process.
The success of this plant is significant for providing lessons learned to the U.S. project. AREVA is already working to utilize and transfer the engineering, construction, and project processes perfected over the development of the Georges Besse II facility. The Eagle Rock facility will benefit from this first-hand experience, and AREVA is excited to begin work on this project to provide a domestic enrichment source for the United States.
Read more about the inauguration here.
