Areva

The AREVA Tower located in Europe's largest Central Business District, La Défense, Paris.

AREVA (Euronext: CEI) is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate that is mainly known for nuclear power; it also has interests in other energy projects. It was created on 3 September 2001, by the merger of Framatome and Cogema (now AREVA NC). Its main shareholder is the French owned company CEA, but the German company Siemens also retains 34% of the shares of AREVA's subsidiary, AREVA NP, in charge of building the European Pressurized Reactor [1].

The parent company is incorporated under French law as a société anonyme (SA - public corporation) and is also recognized as a public limited company in Britain and a corporation in American jurisdictions. The French State owns more than 90%. The corporate name AREVA is inspired by Arevalo Abbey in Spain. Anne Lauvergeon is the Chairman of the Executive Board (equivalent to President and CEO). AREVA official Ralf Güldner is the vice-chairman of the World Nuclear Association.

Contents

Energy company

AREVA is a world-leading company in nuclear energy.[2] It is the only company with a presence in each industrial activity linked to nuclear energy: mining, chemistry, enrichment, combustibles, services, engineering, nuclear propulsion and reactors, treatment, recycling, stabilization, and dismantling. AREVA also claims to offer technological solutions for CO2 free energy; and produces earth leakage circuit breaker technologies.

Three main subsidiaries form the core of AREVA:

The major partners of AREVA include: Technicatome, Euriware, STMicroelectronics, Eramet, and SAFRAN.

AREVA is part of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) alliance, along with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Washington Group International and BWX. GNEP is a plan initiated in 2006 to form an international partnership to reprocess spent nuclear fuel in a way that renders the plutonium in it usable for nuclear fuel but not for nuclear weapons.

Administration

The actions of the Chairman of the Executive Board, Anne Lauvergeon, are subject to considerable oversight by both the board of directors and the supervisory board. In 2006, Spencer Abraham, the former U.S. Secretary of Energy, was named non-executive chairman of AREVA Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of AREVA [4].

Jean-Pierre Raffarin's government announced the privatization of AREVA in 2003, but it was postponed several times, the French government opting finally for the privatization of GDF and EDF. At the end of October 2005, Prime minister Dominique de Villepin announced that he had suspended the privatization process.

History

AREVA has its roots in Framatome, which was founded in 1958 by several companies of the French industrial giant The Schneider Group along with Empain, Merlin Gérin, and the American Westinghouse, in order to license Westinghouse's PWR technology and develop a bid for Chooz 1 in Belgium. Called Franco-Américaine de Constructions Atomiques (Framatome), the original company consisted of four engineers, one each from each of the parent companies. The original mission of the company was to act as a nuclear engineering firm and to develop a nuclear power plant that was to be identical to Westinghouse's existing product specifications. The first European plant of Westinghouse design was by then already under construction in Italy.

Meanwhile, the Électricité de France (EDF), the French government-owned electric utility, in opposition to the Commissariat à l'énergie atomique (CEA), maintained an interest in PWR technology. The Chooz contract offered the EDF, which joined with the Belgian electric utilities to call for the Chooz bids, the opportunity to explore PWR without offending French national pride in its homegrown GCR technology. By the beginning of 1960, only two bids remained in contention; midway through 2006 Framatome received informal permission to begin design work on the Chooz reactor. A formal contract was signed in September, 1961 for Framatome to deliver a turnkey system, that is, not only the reactor, but an entire, ready-to-use system of piping, cabling, supports, and other auxiliary systems, propelling Framatome from a nuclear engineering firm to an industrial contractor.

By 1981, France was pressing for even more control of Framatome. In January, Westinghouse agreed to sell its remaining 15 percent share to Creusot-Loire, which now owned 66 percent, and to cede complete marketing independence to Framatome. In February, the Belgian Baron Empain sold his 35 percent interest in Creusot-Loire to Paribas, a French government-linked banking group.

The May 1981 Socialist electoral victory in France intensified calls for greater government control of Framatome. A January 1982 company reorganization simultaneously strengthened French public and private control of the company by allowing Creusot-Loire to increase its share of the company while increasing CEA say in the running of the firm.

Nuclear Reactor Designs

EPR

Further information: European Pressurized Reactor

AREVA has been constructing Finland's fifth reactor in Olkiluoto since 2005. The reactor, which is one of the first of the new, third generation reactors (EPR - European Pressurized Reactor), was supposed to begin producing electricity in 2009, but the project has been delayed because of technical difficulties and quality problems. In August, 2007 the production start was postponed to 2010-2011 [5]. During the political debate in 1992, the official price estimate was 2500M euros.[5]. In 2004, a contracted fixed price was established as 3200M euros. In its 2006 Annual Report,AREVA recorded a writedown of 507M euros associated with the delay. A Jan 2008 financial press estimate pegged the overrun so far at 1.5B euros [AFX News Limited AREVA proposes to sell 2 EPR reactors to South Africa's Eskom UPDATE 01.31.08].

The second EPR in France is currently under construction at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant.[6] Other EPRs were to be sold to the United Kingdom and to the United States (See below).

On 13 August 2007 the French newspaper Le Parisien alleged that the Franco-Libyan civil nuclear power agreement signed by President Nicolas Sarkozy did not concern desalinization of sea water, as claimed by the French government, but instead focused in particular on selling the EPR to Libya, a contract potentially worth $3 billion[1]. The Parisian newspaper cited Philippe Delaune, deputy to the deputy director of international affairs for the CEA atomic agency, which is the main share-holder in AREVA [1]. Following allegations that the deal had been related to the release of the Bulgarian nurses, the French Socialist Party, through the spokesperson Jean-Louis Bianco, declared that this deal was "geopolitically irresponsible". [1] The German government also denounced the agreement [1].

In November 2007, AREVA agreed to a €8 billion deal with the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group to supply them with two EPRs in Taishan, Guangdong, China. Under the terms of the agreement, AREVA will also help operate the plant, including the reprocessing of spent fuel. [6]

Atmea I

The Atmea I is a new evolutionary reactor design targeted towards both developed and developing economies. It will be developed through a joint venture with Mitsubishi called Atmea. Current plans are targeting power output of about 1100 MWe, but the design could be scalable to produce different levels of power output to fit different size grids. Current plans call for design certification to be completed in about 3 years.

Worldwide presence

Worldwide, the AREVA group has an industrial presence in 40 countries and its commercial network reaches more than 100 countries. It employs 58,000 people and has consolidated sales revenue of €10.863 billion. [7] In 2006, Fortune Magazine reported that AREVA was the "Most Admired Global Energy Company."[8]

AREVA has partnered with engineering contractors to aid in the reconstruction of Iraq by manufacturing equipment to construct electrical substations.[9]

In June 2007, AREVA announced plans to acquire the African uranium mining company UraMin for a final price of about 2.5 billion USD. This move further beefs up AREVA's nuclear business, and AREVA plans to increase production to 9 million kilograms of yellowcake by 2012. [10]

AREVA has also signed a memorandum of understanding with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the establishment of a joint venture for their next reactor design.[11]

Niger (mines)

The open pit uranium mine at Arlit, Niger.

AREVA owns two mines in Arlit, Niger, where it employs 1,600 people; Niger is the world's fifth largest uranium producer [7]. Nigerien uranium accounts for 30% of French consumption and 32% of Niger's exports, but less than 5% of Niger's GDP [12]. The increase in the cost of uranium on world markets in 2006 (more than 46% [12]) will enable Niger to triple its revenues sourced from AREVA [12]. On 25 July 2007, the CEO of AREVA-Niger, Dominique Pin, was expelled from Niger (although he was in Paris at the time) on charges of supporting the Tuareg Rebellion [12]. According to Le Canard enchaîné, this move from Seyni Oumarou's government was motivated by negotiations concerning the uranium trade agreement, which was finally renewed on 1 August 2007 [12]. Furthermore, Laouel Kader Mahamadou, who had resigned from his functions as secretary general of the Nigerien government to take a consulting job with AREVA-Niger, was asked by the Nigerien DGSE to remain in Niger instead of flying to France for an integration workshop until a "clarification of the situation" could be obtained[13].

The population of Niger was exposed to a serious famine in 2005. AREVA donated 130,000 euros in June 2005 to the food crisis coordination group of Niger, and 120,000 euros in July in the form of two planes loaded with food and organized by Bernard Kouchner's Réussir NGO. According to Le Canard Enchaîné, this aid amounted to 0.05% of AREVA's annual profits of 428 million euros. [14].

McArthur River mine

AREVA Resources Canada Inc. also has a 30% share in the McArthur River mine in Canada, which contributes about 20% of total global uranium mining production. The rest of the mine is owned by Cameco Corporation.

South Korea

Further information: Nuclear power in South Korea

In 2007, AREVA signed a ten year deal with the South Korean public company KHNP to enrich uranium in its forthcoming Georges Besse II enrichment plant. The deal is worth over 1 billion euros [15].

United States

Further information: Nuclear power in the United States

In the USA, AREVA is present in 40 locations across 20 states and employs 5,000 people. AREVA supplies network products to two-thirds of all US utilities. Moreover, AREVA was ranked the No 1 US supplier in nuclear energy products and services, in Energy Management Systems and in Energy Market Systems. AREVA NC Inc.'s headquarters are located in Bethesda, MD, while AREVA NP Inc.'s North American Headquarters are located in Lynchburg, VA.

In February 2002, the U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced the Nuclear Power 2010 Program, which included plans for two EPRs. On 15 September 2005 AREVA and Constellation Energy of Baltimore announced a new joint venture called UniStar Nuclear that will market the commercial EPR in the US.

In line with Areva's "strategic business plan of expanding the US commercial nuclear infrastructure", in 2007 Areva announced plans to construct a centrifuge enrichment plant in the United states [16]. The proposed 3 million separative work unit (SWU) enrichment plant could begin operation in 2013 and reach full capacity by 2017 [17]. Areva has confirmed the potential site for this plant will be 30 kilometres west of Idaho Falls, near the US Department of Energy's (DoE's) Idaho National Laboratory [18]. The project is likely to cost in the region of $2 billion and will provide uranium enrichment services to US nuclear plant operators using advanced proven centrifuge technology developed by the Urenco and Enrichment Technology Company Ltd (ETC), an Areva subsidiary[19]

China

In China AREVA won an 8 billion euro ($11.9 billion) agreement to build nuclear reactors, a record for the French company. The long-expected announcement came at the start of formal talks in Beijing between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao.[20] ``France wants to build a complete partnership for the future with China, Sarkozy said today in Beijing during a joint briefing with Chinese President Hu Jintao. ``China's spectacular development is a chance for the world.[21]

French, American and Russian suppliers have been vying for contracts in China, which plans to build as many as 32 nuclear plants by 2020 to meet surging power demands while cutting emissions and reducing reliance on imported oil. U.S. and French politicians have been lobbying Beijing hard on behalf of their companies. "When you look at China's energy problems, nuclear energy is not the whole answer, but it is part of the answer," AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon told a news conference.

The deal allows AREVA to "consolidate its presence in one of the most dynamic markets in the world with enormous potential," Lauvergeon said.

State-run AREVA said the contract with state-run China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp. was a record for the French company. The third-generation pressurized water reactors, designed by AREVA's Framatome subsidiary, would boost CGNPC's output by 3,400 megawatts, AREVA said earlier.

The contract also calls on AREVA to provide uranium to fuel the reactors through 2026. The reactors are to be built by 2013-2014 in the city of Taishan in Guangdong province, an export manufacturing powerhouse with heavy demand for power and high levels of industrial pollution.[20]

Poland

AREVA T&D owns following entities in Poland:

Areva T&D employs 380 people in Poland.

Other activities

AREVA is also involved in military technology, designing for example the nuclear reactor for the French Barracuda class submarine.

One of AREVA's subsidiaries, Euriware (founded in 1991) specializes in computer engineering, and employs 2,100 persons on 14 different sites. AREVA also owns 11% of STMicroelectronics, 26,25% of Eramet, and 8,45% of Safran. In May 2005 it sold all of its stakes in Assystem, as well as FCI in October 2005 (sold to the private equity firm Bain Capital).

CERCA, a subsidiary of AREVA, is also involved in TRIGA International, established in 1996 with the US firm General Atomics.

AREVA is also a corporate member of the Bruegel think tank.

2007 fine

In January 2007 AREVA was fined €53 million by the European Commission for rigging EU electricity markets through a cartel involving 11 companies, including ABB, Alstom, Fuji, Hitachi Japan, AE Power Systems, Mitsubishi Electric Corp, Schneider, Siemens, Toshiba and VA Tech ELIN [22]. According to the Commission, "between 1988 and 2004, the companies rigged bids for procurement contracts, fixed prices, allocated projects to each other, shared markets and exchanged commercially important and confidential information."[22] Siemens was given a fine of €396 million, more than half of the total, for its alleged leadership role in the cartel.

Areva is not accused of any cartel involvement other than through the acquisition of an Alstom unit in January 2004. "This subsidiary was acquired by the Areva group towards the end of the infringement, in January 2004. The parent entities of the Areva group share a joint liability with that subsidiary for the period after its acquisition." [8] "A few months before the cartel ended Alstom sold the unit involved to Areva, which knew nothing of the cartel. It [Areva] and Alstom have joint liability for 53.6 million, which they must decide how to split." [9]

EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes declared that "The commission has put an end to a cartel which has cheated public utility companies and consumers for more than 16 years" [23].

Advertisements

AREVA has gained some fame after airing 3,000 cel-shaded animation television ad spots created by French design group H5, who also created the similar music video for Röyksopp's "Remind Me". The ads explained how the generation and distribution of nuclear power works. The ads featured the song "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc..

In the French economic paper "challenges" Anne Lauvergeon, chairman, declared the 10th July 2008 : Uranium is a main part of our success. Our model is... Nespresso : we sell coffee machines and coffee which fit for them. And coffee is very profitable. So in China, we sold two nuclear parts, plus 35 % of our uranium production . This is our integrated business model. http://www.challenges.fr/magazine/0132-015836/le_modele_dareva_cest_nespresso.html

Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility

AREVA Inc., based in Bethesda, Maryland, announced on 2008-05-06 that it will seek all necessary approval to build a uranium enrichment facility in Bonneville County, Idaho, about twenty miles west of Idaho Falls and near the Idaho National Laboratory.[24]

On 2008-08-04, the AREVA group announced its proposed gas centrifuge enrichment facility will be named the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility (EREF).[25]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Marc Lomazzi, "Nucléaire: les dessous de l'accord entre la France et la Libye", Le Parisien, 13 August 2007 [1](French)
  2. ↑ Yoshifumi Takemoto and Alan Katz, "Samurai-Sword Maker's Reactor Monopoly May Cool Nuclear Revival ", Bloomberg.com, 13 March 2008 [2]
  3. ↑ AREVA signs the agreement for the acquisition of ALSTOM's Transmission and Distribution activities, AREVA press release, 9 January 2004
  4. ↑ "L’ancien secrétaire à l’Énergie de l’administration Bush, Spencer Abraham, est nommé directeur de la filiale états-unienne d’AREVA", Voltaire Network (2006-03-09).  (French) Spanish translation)
  5. ↑ La Chine aurait annulée sa commande d'EPR, Le Nouvel Observateur, 22 August 2007 (French)
  6. ↑ John Tagliabue, "China Deal Gives Lift to Revival of Fission", New York Times, 27 November 2007 [3]
  7. ↑ AREVA's press release
  8. ↑ CNNMoney
  9. ↑ Farabi and Jamila, Iraq Substations
  10. ↑ Nuclear Engineering International
  11. ↑ AREVA and MHI Sign Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a Joint Venture for Their New Reactor
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 "Atomes pas très crochus au Niger" in Le Canard enchaîné, 22 August 2007, p.4 (French)
  13. ↑ Conflit armé dans le nord. Des morts et des réfugiés, Le Républicain-Niger, 23 August 2007 (French)
  14. ↑ "Peu enrichi à l'uranium ("Not much enriched by uranium")", Le Canard Enchaîné (2005-08-03).  (French)
  15. ↑ "S.Korea signs uranium enrichment deal with France", Reuters, 19 June 2007 on-line (English)
  16. ↑ "Areva's American enrichment plan", World Nuclear News (2007-06-29). 
  17. ↑ WNN1
  18. ↑ "Areva selects enrichment site", World Nuclear News (2008-05-08). 
  19. ↑ WNN2
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 http://www.mercurynews.com/healthandscience/ci_7562266?nclick_check=1
  21. ↑ Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 EU cracks down on electricity-gear cartel, EurActiv, 25 January 2007 (English)
  23. ↑ Vote call by Siemens shareholders, BBC, 25 January 2007 (English)
  24. ↑ AREVA - Press : press releases
  25. ↑ [4]

See also

Sites

External links

CAC Mid 100 companies of France (23 June, 2008)

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