29 Dec (NucNet): France and Brazil have reaffirmed their intention to cooperate on proposals for expanding Brazil�s nuclear park.

Areva said on 23 December 2008 that a memorandum of understanding confirming industrial cooperation was signed by its chief executive officer (CEO) Anne Lauvergeon and the CEO of Brazilian utility Eletronuclear, Othon Luiz Pinheiro da Silva. The announcement came as French president Nicolas Sarkozy concluded a two-day visit to Brazil.

Areva said it had also �indicated its willingness� to provide Eletronuclear with the expertise needed to fabricate nuclear fuel for new reactor units and that both companies had signed a services contract for Brazil�s Angra-1 reactor unit.

Areva already provides services for the two Angra pressurised water reactor units, the only nuclear units in commercial operation in the country, on the coast in the state of Rio de Janeiro.

In September 2008, Eletronuclear submitted proposals to the government to build four 1,000-megawatt reactor units by 2030 and to complete a third reactor unit at the Angra plant.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Brazil Proposes New Nuclear Build Programme (World Nuclear Review No. 28, 13 July 2007)

Brazil�s Angra Service Contracts Awarded To Areva (News in Brief No. 71, 17 June 2008)

Source: NucNet

Editor: editors@worldnuclear.org

29 Dec (NucNet): US regulators have recertified two gaseous diffusion plants operated by the US enrichment corporation USEC.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on 23 December 2008 that the certifications, which must be applied for at least every 5 years for each plant, are now valid until 31 December 2013 and allow USEC to continue operating the plants near Paducah in Kentucky and Portsmouth, Ohio.

In a report* to the US Congress this month that covered the five-year operating period of the plants from October 2003, the NRC said both sites had �provided adequate protection of health, safety, safeguards, security, and environmental conditions, and have generally operated in compliance with NRC regulations�.

Offsite radiological doses, and doses to workers, have been very low and well within regulatory limits, the NRC said.

USEC ended enrichment operations at the Portsmouth plant in 2001 and now maintains the facility in a stand-by condition under contract to the US Department of Energy. In May 2007, the NRC issued USEC a licence to construct a gas centrifuge enrichment plant at the Portsmouth site.

*The report is available on the NRC�s ADAMS document retrieval system (http://www.nrc.gov) using the search term ML083400472.

� by John Shepherd.

>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)

Technology Deal And Lease Signed For American Centrifuge Plant (News No. 262, 11 December 2006)

Fluor Gets USD 1 Billion USEC Centrifuge Contract (World Nuclear Review No. 37, 26 September 2008)

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Source: NucNet

Editor: editors@worldnuclear.org