AREVA’s proposed Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility under development near Idaho Falls, Idaho has been chosen as one of Site Selection magazine’s Top Projects of 2008. The company selected the site, about 18 miles west of Idaho Falls in May 2008. In December, AREVA submitted a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build the facility valued at over $2 billion. The project is expected to bring approximately 1,000 jobs during the construction phase and some 300 permanent jobs during operations.
Site Selection said the criteria were determined by “level of capital investment, degree of high-value jobs, creativity in negotiations and incentives, regional economic impact, competition for the project and speed to market.”
AREVA put forth its plan to establish this facility in the U.S. in May 2007 before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the race was on. From an initial 200 sites the company’s team, led by Sam Shakir, general manager, strategic enrichment, used its “multi-attribute utility analysis” matrix of 39 technical, environmental, operational, and economic criteria to winnow the number of finalists to 10 sites in six states, including New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington.*
Central to the deal were Grow Idaho Falls Inc., the Eastern Idaho Economic Development Partnership, the Regional Development Alliance and the Idaho Dept. of Commerce, as well as the indirect influence of the Idaho National Laboratory. …
“One thing we saw was a complete alignment between state and local government and their federal representatives here in Washington,” Shakir told Site Selection.
*Shakir is now president of AREVA Enrichment Services, the subsidiary devoted to development of the facility.
Tweet TAGS: AREVA Inc., Eagle Rock, Eagle Rock Enrichment Project, Enrichment, Idaho Falls, News, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear Fuel, Nuclear Power, Site Selection, Uranium Enrichment
Posted in: Enrichment, News, Nuclear Energy | No Comments»
