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French nuclear manufacturer Areva signs $2.7 billion deal to operate plant in South Carolina

Submitted by: John Warner on May 23, 2008 at 4:38 pm Tagged with: Alternative Energy, Alternative Fuel, Nuclear Source: Areva

French company to open U.S. nuclear fuel plant
Before deploying to a nuclear power plant, the service personnel must undergo special training.

PARIS (AP) -- French nuclear manufacturer Areva says a subsidiary has signed a $2.7 billion (euro1.72 billion) deal with the U.S. Department of Energy to build and operate a nuclear fuel production facility in South Carolina.

Shaw Areva MOX Services has signed the deal to build a plant at the Savannah River site near Aiken, South Carolina.

The plant will mix leftover weapons-grade plutonium with uranium oxide to make fuel pellets called MOX, or mixed-oxide, for commercial nuclear reactors.

Areva already makes MOX fuel at a facility in France. It announced the deal Friday.

Through the agreement, the Department of Energy is exercising the construction options included in a contract signed in 1999. To top of page