EDF buys Studsvik's waste treatment operations
Sweden's Studsvik has agreed to sell its low-level radioactive waste operations in Sweden and the UK to EDF of France. At the same time, the two companies have agreed to collaborate in decommissioning and waste management.
Under an agreement signed yesterday, EDF subsidiary EDF Développement Environnement will acquire Studsvik's waste treatment business and facilities in Sweden and the UK for SEK355 million ($44 million), subject to certain closing adjustments.
The scope of the transaction includes Studsvik's waste treatment assets and facilities for metal recycling, incineration and pyrolysis located at the Studsvik site near Nyköping in Sweden, as well as the metal recycling facility near Workington in the UK. Low-level waste treated in these facilities is either recycled, free-released or volume-reduced and returned to the customer for final storage.
As part of the transaction, EDF and Studsvik have also signed a cooperation agreement on nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management. EDF said, "This agreement will enable both companies to pool their expertise and to grow their activity to become benchmark operators in the sector."
The closing of the transaction is subject to the granting of necessary licenses and permits by the relevant authorities in relation to the waste treatment business. The transaction is expected to be closed during the third quarter of 2016.
EDF said its purchase of Studsvik's waste business will reinforce the existing capacity of its radioactive waste treatment and packaging subsidiary Socodei. The acquisition "will significantly increase EDF's industrial capacity and represents a major milestone for EDF's development in waste management and decommissioning activities", it said.
Sylvain Granger, head of EDF's decommissioning and radioactive waste management operations, said: "By combining Socodei and Studsvik assets, EDF will be able to offer a wide range of services in waste management and nuclear plant decommissioning and to strengthen its presence in Europe in this growing market."
Studsvik CEO Michael Mononen said, "The divestment of the waste treatment business and the cooperation agreement with EDF position Studsvik for growth, building on a more stable and focused business platform. We will continue to develop our fuel and materials technology, and consultancy businesses, not only in our home markets of Sweden, the UK, Germany, the USA and Japan, where many of our customers are preparing to decommission, but also in growing nuclear markets in Asia and the Middle East."
In February 2014, Studsvik sold most of its radioactive waste operations in the USA to nuclear commercial services company EnergySolutions for $23 million.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
