Areva discusses Chinese and Kazakh ventures

12 June 2008

[Bloomberg, 12 June] Areva of France is discussing joint ventures for fuel cycle facilities in China and Kazakhstan, according to Bloomberg reports. In China, the company is said to be in initial talks with China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) on a joint venture to construct a fuel reprocessing plant in Gansu province. "China plans to finish building the plant, likely to be located near the provincial capital of Lanzhou, between 2020 and 2025," said Li Jinying, director of planning at CNNC. He said the plant will have a capacity to reprocess 800 tonnes of used fuel annually. Meanwhile, in Kazakhstan Areva is reported to be discussing a joint venture with KazAtomProm to enrich uranium. Olga Orininskaya, a spokeswoman for the Kazakh company, said, "The two companies are in talks to create a venture." KazAtomProm announced yesterday that it had agreed a separate venture with Areva to produce fuel assemblies in Kazakhstan.