French nuclear group Areva seeks US license for uranium plant

WAR.WIRE

French nuclear group Areva seeks US license for uranium plant
NEW YORK, Jan 2 (AFP) Jan 02, 2009
French nuclear services group Areva announced this week that it has applied for US government approval to build a two billion dollar uranium enrichment plant in the northwestern state of Idaho.

The project would be the French state-controlled group's first uranium enrichment plant in the United States.

Currently the sole uranium enrichment plant in the US is operated by shareholder-owned United States Enrichment Corporation in the eastern-central state of Kentucky.

Areva said Monday its subsidiary Areva Enrichment Services had submitted a license application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for approval to build and operate the uranium enrichment factory, dubbed Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility.

The Eagle Rock plant would be built near Idaho Falls, Idaho, and be operational in 2014, the company said.

The Idaho Falls region also is home to the US government's Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy engineering facility specializing in nuclear and energy research and defense.