Areva wins deal to supply Energoatom with enriched uranium

French engineering company Areva has for the first time signed a contract with Energoatom for the supply of enriched uranium to be used at Ukraine's nuclear power reactors. The first batches will be delivered in 2015.

French engineering company Areva has for the first time signed a contract with Energoatom for the supply of enriched uranium to be used at Ukraine's nuclear power reactors. The first batches will be delivered in 2015.

Nedashkovsky and Wantz at the signing of their new contract (Image: Energoatom)

The value of the contract was not disclosed.

Olivier Wantz, Head of Areva's front end business group, said: "Areva is delighted that Energoatom has entrusted our group with this key component of their nuclear fuel procurement. This contract demonstrates our capacity to win the confidence of new customers."

Energoatom president Yuri Nedashkovsky said the contract aims to diversify the supply of nuclear materials to Ukraine's nuclear power plants. Endergoatom operates all of Ukraine's 15 nuclear units in commercial operation at four sites, Khmelnitsky, Rovno, South Ukraine and Zaporozhe.

The contract was signed on 24 April at Energoatom's office in Brussels.

Areva won a tender for the contract "not only due to its most attractive price proposal, but also because of the minimum risks to Energoatom foreseen by the contract," the Ukrainian company said.

During their meeting, Nedahkovsky and Wantz also discussed "current questions of cooperation" between the two companies, including sharing experience on the construction and safe commissioning of nuclear power plants; the management of used nuclear fuel and radioactive wastes; modernization and safety upgrade work at Ukrainian units; the lifetime extension of reactors; and nuclear safety and radiation protection of the environment and plant personnel.

Areva and Energoatom are "old partners", they said, and an agreement has been in force since 2011 regarding plans for used fuel and radioactive waste management in Ukraine, including storage, transportation and reprocessing.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News