EU funding for French enrichment plant expansion

Monday, 10 March 2025

The Georges Besse II centrifuge enrichment plant - which superseded the Georges Besse I gaseous diffusion enrichment plant that ended production in June 2012 - was officially opened in December 2010 and reached its full production capacity of 7.5 million Separative Work Unit (SWU) in 2016.

In October 2023, the board of directors of Orano approved an investment of about EUR1.7 billion to raise the production capacity of the plant. The decision followed requests from some US and European customers who are seeking alternatives to Russian sources of supply.

The project consists of building a further four modules identical to the fourteen existing modules that use "the same recognised and proven technology, offering the best guarantees in terms of safety, competitiveness and energy savings, while having a reduced environmental footprint", the company said. The additional cascades will increase the plant's capacity by 2.5 million SWU.

This project was the subject of a notification under Article 41 of the Euratom Treaty on 7 September 2023. The European Commission issued a positive opinion on 9 October 2024, underlining the project's compliance with the Euratom treaty and its contribution to the security of supply in Europe.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) - the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States - has now agreed to lend Orano EUR400 million towards the Georges Besse II expansion project.

EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle said: "This significant EIB financing contributes to European energy independence. Decarbonised energies are essential to enable the European Union to meet the ambitious climate neutrality objectives it has set itself."

"We are very proud of this cooperation, which represents further recognition of the strategic value of our investment plan for the climate and for the production of sustainable and decarbonised energy," said Orano CEO Nicolas Maes. "The financing granted by the EIB for the capacity extension at our Georges Besse II enrichment plant is perfectly in line with this objective, as the project will make it possible to take the number of households supplied with low-carbon energy up to a total 120 million. Not least, in the current geopolitical context, this support for our activities from the EIB will help to strengthen security of supply in the European Union."

Orano held a ceremony in October last year to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the Georges Besse II plant extension. The new modules are expected to begin operating in 2028, with complete commissioning of the extension in 2030.