August AREVA Meetings to be held in Boise and Idaho Falls

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold 2 meetings in ID next week regarding the AREVA Eagle Rock Enrichment Plant project – PLEASE ATTEND ONE OF THEM!

Monday, August 9 in Boise at the Oxford Suites Hotel, 1426 S. Entertainment Ave., in Boise, from 7-9:30 p.m.

Thursday, August 12 in Idaho Falls at the Red Lion Hotel, 475 River Parkway, from 7:30-10 p.m.

If you have questions, or wish to know pertinent issues for the EIS, you can call GIFI office 208-522-2014 or Lane Allgood, PST, at 208-313-4166. Public comments can be submitted until September 13, by email EagleRock.EIS@nrc.gov, or mailed to:

Ref: Report Number NUREG-1945 draft
Chief, Rules & Directives Branch
Division of Administrative Services
Office of Administration
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Mail Stop TWB-05-B01M
Washington, DC 20555-0001

Areva Secures $2 Billion Loan Guarantee from the DOE

Washington, DC – As part of a broad effort to expand the use of nuclear power in the United States and reduce carbon pollution, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced today the Department’s first conditional commitment for a front-end nuclear facility. The $2 billion loan guarantee will support AREVA’s Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility near Idaho Falls, Idaho, which will supply uranium enrichment services for the U.S. nuclear power industry.

“Increasing uranium enrichment in the United States is critical to the nation’s energy and national security,” said Secretary Chu. “Existing reactors will need additional sources of enriched uranium soon. New nuclear plants that could start to come on line as early as 2016 will also need a steady, reliable source of uranium enrichment services. AREVA’s project will help to meet that demand.”

The Idaho Falls facility will use advanced centrifuge technology instead of the more energy-intensive gaseous diffusion process. Although Eagle Rock will be only the second plant to use this technology in the US, it has been employed in Europe for about 30 years to enrich uranium for the commercial power market. The project’s technology uses 95 percent less electricity than the gaseous diffusion technology it replaces, reducing both energy use and environmental effects.

Areva estimates construction of the Eagle Rock facility will create 1,000 jobs. The total project is expected to cost approximately $3.3 billion.

The light-water reactors that comprise the US fleet are fueled by low-enriched uranium, in which the concentration of the easily-split U-235 isotope is raised from less than one percent found in natural uranium to between three and five percent by weight. (Natural uranium is largely comprised of the U-238 isotope.)

Currently, the United States obtains half of its enriched uranium from Russia under the Megatons-to-Megawatts program, in which nuclear materials that were once pointed at the United States are converted to civilian nuclear fuel to power America’s economy. The program expires in 2013, after which alternate sources of enrichment services will be required to support the continued and expanded use of nuclear power in the United States

The project must obtain a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before the loan guarantee can be finalized. In addition to the $2 billion in loan guarantee authority under the 2009 Omnibus Bill, the Department has made available an additional $2 billion to support uranium enrichment technology from loan authority provided in 2007.

This is the ninth project to be offered a conditional commitment by the Department of Energy since March, 2009. For more information on the loan guarantee program, please visit http://www.lgprogram.energy.gov/

Idaho Falls AREVA Project Named Top Corporate Facility Deal of 2008

The cover story for May's "Site Selection" magazine features the Idaho Falls AREVA project at the top of its list of North American corporate facility deals of 2008. (Yes, the list is alphabetical, but who cares!) Several groups were praised for their involvement in the deal, including Grow Idaho Falls, Inc., the Idaho Department of Commerce, the Idaho National Lab, the Eastern Idaho Economic Development Partnership, and the Regional Development Alliance.

According to the article, the "Top Deals are 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."

Way to go, IDAHO and AREVA!

Idaho Falls Students Tour AREVA Facility in France

Check out the story in River City Weekly on twenty members of the Idaho Falls Mayor's Youth Advisory Council who recently toured AREVA's Georges Besse II Uranium Enrichment Facility as part of a weeklong trip to France, sponsored by AREVA. Their proposed Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility is currently going through the licensing process required under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 that can take up to 30 months to complete.

AREVA Seeks Federal Approval for $2 Billion Uranium Enrichment Plant

AREVA Inc., a French-owned nuclear services company, has applied to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls.

The federal regulator has said approval could take more than two years.

AREVA officials said construction could begin in 2011, with work expected to last seven years.
The company, which in 2008 won tax breaks from the Idaho Legislature before deciding on building in the state, has said the project will be a smaller version of its Georges Besse II centrifuge enrichment facility now under construction in France.

The facility would be capable of producing enough enriched uranium to supply nearly a quarter of existing U.S. commercial nuclear power needs.

AREVA says the project will create 800 construction jobs and 300 full-time workers, once it's running.

Source: Associated Press

More About AREVA

With manufacturing facilities in 41 countries and a sales network in more than 100 countries, AREVA offers customers reliable technological solutions for CO2-free power generation and electricity transmission and distribution. AREVA is the world leader in nuclear power and the only company to cover all industrial activities in this field. The company's 65,000 employees are committed to continuous improvement on a daily basis, making sustainable development the focal point of the group’s industrial strategy. AREVA’s businesses help meet the 21st century’s greatest challenges: making energy available to all, protecting the planet, and acting responsibly towards future generations. http://www.areva.com/

Other news headlines: India chooses AREVA as its first foreign uranium supplier

AREVA Submits DOE Loan Guarantee Application for Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 29, 2008

AREVA today submitted its application to the U.S. Department of Energy for a loan guarantee for its Eagle Rock uranium enrichment facility, which the company is developing near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

The DOE loan guarantee program is designed to encourage investment in innovative nuclear
energy projects in the United States, such as new reactors and enrichment facilities.
The state-of-the-art Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility will use advanced centrifuge technology,
recognized worldwide as the benchmark for performance, reliability, and economics. This
technology offers significant improvements over current enrichment technology used in the
United States.

“DOE has made clear that maintaining a reliable and competitive U.S. uranium enrichment
industry is an important national energy security objective,” said General Manager of Strategic
Enrichment Programs Sam Shakir. “Our proposed Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility supports
this objective. It achieves a critical next step in building the infrastructure for long-term U.S.
energy security, reduces our nation’s reliance on imports of enrichment services, while
promoting clean nuclear energy to reduce greenhouse emissions.”

AREVA offers DOE a structure that meets the economic and technical criteria of the loan
guarantee program and offers the highest level of assurance of repayment.

AREVA is a world leader in enrichment services technology and the leading nuclear vendor in
the United States. The company expects to submit a license application to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission for its Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility by the end of this year.

More About Areva

As the leading U.S. nuclear vendor and a key player in the electricity transmission and
distribution sector, AREVA Inc.’s 5,300 U.S. energy employees are committed to serving the
nation and paving the way for the future of the electricity market. With 45 locations across the
nation and nearly $2 billion in energy revenues in 2007, AREVA Inc., through its subsidiaries,
combines U.S. leadership, access to worldwide expertise and a proven track record of
performance. In the U.S. and in more than 100 countries around the world, AREVA is engaged
in the 21st century’s greatest challenges: making energy available to all, protecting the planet,
and acting responsibly toward future generations. AREVA Inc. is headquartered in Bethesda,
Maryland.

Nuclear "Tour De France"

Idaho Senator Larry Craig visited France this month to learn more about Areva. This is what he had to say:

“You may remember that this May, a French company named Areva selected Bonneville County as the future home of a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant, its first such plant in the United States. Understanding that something of this magnitude has never been brought to Idaho before by the private sector, and already hearing questions from Idahoans about this proposal, I recently traveled to France to get a firsthand look at Areva's nuclear facilities and the Georges Besse II enrichment plant…

Read more at: http://craig.senate.gov/releases/ed071108.cfm

YouTube Areva Video

Areva Press Release from Grow Idaho Falls

AREVA Chooses Idaho Falls

Areva Inc. announced today it will build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant near
Idaho Falls. Areva selected the site near the Idaho National Laboratory over potential sites in
five states.

Michael McMurphy, President of Areva Inc. said, “While we had several attractive sites
to choose from, we opted for Idaho Falls, which has strong ties to nuclear energy, and which welcomed AREVA and its proposed enrichment facility to become a new member of its community. We look forward to a productive and long-term partnership that will deliver diversity and strength to the regional economy.”

It will take two to three years to design the plant and receive state and federal
approvals. Construction is expected to take three to five years and involve as many as 1,000 workers. Once operational, the plant is expected to employ up to 300 people.

“Areva has the technology and the experience, and eastern Idaho has the workforce,
the infrastructure, the commitment to advancing nuclear technology and the critical
understanding of this industry. It’s a great match that will result in secure jobs and a stronger
economy,” Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter said. “This highlights the Idaho National Engineering
Laboratory’s importance to our entire state, and it shows what a great investment it was to
provide state funding for the Center for Advanced Energy Studies at the INL. We now have
public and private resources, industry and academics working together to bring about this new
opportunity. I’m grateful to the people of Bonneville County, to the local officials, to Grow Idaho
Falls, and to all those who helped make this announcement possible.”

The Idaho Department of Commerce and Grow Idaho Falls, Inc. worked together to
satisfy the 39 physical and economic criteria in a state to state comparison. Grow Idaho Falls
Inc., the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce, the Partnership for Science &
Technology, the City of Idaho Falls, and the Regional Development Alliance began drafting
legislation to accommodate the gaps in the tax structure.

“We were able to show that bringing this type of large, taxpaying, for-profit business to
Idaho would benefit the whole state, particularly in light of recent declining state revenues,” said
Linda Martin, Executive Director of Grow Idaho Falls Inc. Tim Solomon with the Regional
Development Alliance estimated the overall economic impact to the region would be
approximately $5.1 billion.

“I am very excited that Areva has chosen to do business in our community. What this
tells me is that Idaho must be doing something right to attract a company of this
magnitude. It also tells me if Areva wants to invest in our state, there will be others to follow,
and that would be a very exciting prospect. We could not have done this without the help from
many individuals throughout our community, the state, and our Congressional leadership. We
look forward to a long-lasting partnership with Areva,” said Mayor Jared Fuhriman of Idaho
Falls.

The Idaho Legislature passed two bills during the 2008 session designed to make
Idaho competitive with other states by offering tax incentives. Local government and economic
development officials have been working with Areva for nearly a year in the effort to bring the
plant to eastern Idaho.

The Idaho Falls groups worked with a number of regional and local legislators, including Chairman Dennis Lake (R-Blackfoot), Chairman Brent Hill (R-Rexburg), and Majority Leader Sen. Bart Davis (R-Idaho Falls). Gov. Otter, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID), and Cong. Mike Simpson (R-2 ID) made personal supportive calls during the deliberations, in the US and France. The local delegation gained support from across the state, especially from House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Moyle (R-Star), Rep. Jim Clark (RHayden Lake) and Rep. Dean Mortimer (R-Idaho Falls) on the House floor, and Sen. Curt McKenzie (R-Boise) on the Senate floor.

(Pictured is representative Dean Mortimer, who supported the legislation.)