Urenco Group
 | |
| Type | Limited company |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Stoke Poges, United Kingdom |
| Products | Nuclear fuel |
| Services | Uranium enrichment |
| Website | www.urenco.com |
The Urenco Group is a nuclear fuel company operating several uranium enrichment plants in Germany, the Netherlands, United States, and United Kingdom. It supplies nuclear power stations in about 15 countries, and states that it had a 29% share of the global market for enrichment services in 2011.[1][2] Urenco uses centrifuge enrichment technology.[3]
In 2013, sale of the government interests of Urenco was being sought.[4]
Subsidiaries
Urenco Deutschland GmbH, Urenco UK Ltd, and Urenco Nederland BV are 100% subsidiaries of Urenco Enrichment Company Ltd. They operate enrichment plants at Gronau, Westphalia, Germany, at Capenhurst, England, United Kingdom and at Almelo, Netherlands.[3]
In the United States, where Urenco is represented by its marketing subsidiary Urenco, Inc., the Urenco USA facility became operational in spring 2010. Called the National Enrichment Facility, it is located 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Eunice, New Mexico, and is operated by Louisiana Energy Services (LES), a subsidiary of Urenco.[citation needed]
Urenco also owns a 50% interest in Enrichment Technology Company (ETC), a company jointly owned with Areva. ETC provides enrichment-plant design services and gas-centrifuge technology for enrichment plants through its subsidiaries in the UK (Capenhurst), Germany (Gronau and Jülich), the Netherlands (Almelo), France (Tricastin) and the U.S. (Eunice, New Mexico).[citation needed]
Ownership
Urenco is owned in three equal parts by Ultra-Centrifuge Nederland NV (owned by the Government of the Netherlands), Uranit GmbH (owned equally by German energy companies E.ON and RWE) and Enrichment Holdings Ltd (owned by the Government of the United Kingdom and managed by the Shareholder Executive).[5] The company was set up in 1971 pursuant to the Treaty of Almelo, which restricts the sale of ownership stakes.[6][7] As of 2012, the owners are considering a potential sale.[8]
Decommissioning
Urenco Netherlands BV has dismantled enrichment plant SP3, after the decommissioning of SP1 and SP2 in the 1980s and 1990s. Information about decommissioning cost calculations for Urenco facilities is not accessible.[9]
Controversies
Abdul Qadeer Khan
In 1970s, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan who worked for a subcontractor of URENCO in Almelo, brought the drawings of the centrifuges operated by Urenco to Pakistan without notifying the URENCO administration and the Dutch government. Those stolen blueprints were never returned to URENCO administration as Khan had resigned from his position.[citation needed] In the early 1974, dr. Khan joined the uranium enrichment programme, launched by Munir Ahmad Khan under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Prime minister that time. Later, he took over the project, and established a facility that produces the HEU based on the stolen blue prints of URENCO Group.[10] Within a short span of time established a highly advanced uranium enrichment facility near Islamabad.[10]
Namibia
In May 1985, the United Nations Council for Namibia (UNCN) decided to take legal action against Urenco for breaching UNCN Decree No 1, which prohibited any exploitation of Namibia's natural resources under apartheid South Africa, because Urenco had been importing uranium ore from the Rössing mine in Namibia. The case was expected to be ready by the end of 1985 but was delayed because Urenco argued that, despite having enriched uranium of Namibian origin since 1980, it was impossible to tell where specific consignments came from. When the case finally reached court in July 1986, the Dutch government took Urenco's line, claiming not to have known where the uranium had been mined.[11]
Uranium tails contracts with Russia
According to Greenpeace, Urenco has a standing contract with Russia for the disposal of radioactive waste. In reality, these contracts do not relate to the disposal of waste, but to the sale of depleted uranium tails, which are re-enriched to natural uranium equivalent.[12][13] As the enricher, Russia would be the owner of any radioactive waste that results from this process. In March 2009, there were protests about the largest-ever load of depleted uranium hexafluoride being transported from Germany to the Siberian town Seversk.[14]
See also
References
- ↑ "About URENCO". Urenco. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ↑ "Full Year 2011 Audited Financial Results". Urenco. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Geoffrey Rothwell (2009). "Market Power in Uranium Enrichment". Science & Global Security 17: 132–154. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ↑ Seeking an Exit From Uranium 28 May 2013 NYT
- ↑ ABC van kernenergie: Ultra-Centrifuge Nederland NV
- ↑ "History". Urenco. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ↑ "Agreement between the Governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic regarding Collaboration in Centrifuge Technology". The Stationery Office. 12 July 2005. Cm 7046. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Emma Rowley, Rowena Mason and Helia Ebrahimi (15 July 2012). "Nuclear sale set to net billions for UK". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ↑ EU Decommission Funds
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The nuclear Walmart: Transcript - BBC Panorama, 15 Nov 2006
- ↑ "Council for Namibia sues Netherlands over Namibia's natural resources". UN Chronicle. 1987. Retrieved 20 March 2010.
- ↑ Rosatom says uranium tail contracts will not be renewed, citing economic infeasibility
- ↑ World Nuclear Association: Uranium enrichment, section "Enrichment of depleted uranium tails"
- ↑ Protests as biggest ever nuclear waste load goes to Siberia
External links
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