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AREVA Selects Bonneville County, Idaho, for its Uranium Enrichment Facility

BETHESDA, Md., May 6 PRNewswire — AREVA Inc. announced today that it has selected the state of Idaho for its new U.S. uranium enrichment facility. The site is located in Bonneville County, 18 miles west of Idaho Falls, close to the Idaho National Lab.

The selection was made after an extensive technical, environmental and socio-economical analysis of several potential sites throughout the United States. With its decision, AREVA will move forward to seek all necessary approvals from federal, state and local agencies, including a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct and operate the facility.

"The United States needs more clean energy to support its economic growth. To enable us to meet those needs we have to expand our domestic nuclear infrastructure, secure our supply of enrichment services, and reduce our reliance on foreign imports. This new enrichment plant is a critical part of this process," said Michael McMurphy, president of AREVA Inc. He added, "While we had several attractive sites to choose from, we opted for Idaho Falls, which has strong ties to nuclear energy, and which welcomed AREVA and its proposed enrichment facility to become a new member of its community. We look forward to a productive and long-term partnership that will deliver diversity and strength to the regional economy."

The new state-of-the-art facility represents a multi-billion dollar investment that would create hundreds of high-skilled jobs during the construction and operation phases.

The Idaho Falls plant will provide enrichment services to U.S. nuclear plant operators using advanced proven centrifuge technology developed by the Enrichment Technology Company, Ltd. (ETC), an AREVA subsidiary, and world leader in enrichment services technology. This centrifuge technology has been successfully deployed in Europe for more than thirty years, using 50 times less electricity than the gaseous diffusion process.

AREVA is a major supplier of enrichment services. It owns and operates the Georges Besse enrichment plant in France, which has safely operated for nearly three decades. AREVA is currently constructing a new gas centrifuge enrichment facility in France — Georges Besse II — which is expected to become operational in 2009.

To find out more, explore AREVA's Uranium Enrichment Web site at: http://www.us.areva-nc.com/

More about AREVA

As the leading U.S. nuclear vendor and a key player in the electricity transmission and distribution sector, AREVA Inc.'s 5,300 U.S. energy employees are committed to serving the nation and paving the way for the future of the electricity market. With 45 locations across the nation and nearly $2 billion in energy revenues in 2007, AREVA Inc., through its subsidiaries, combines U.S. leadership, access to worldwide expertise and a proven track record of performance. In the U.S. and in more than 100 countries around the world, AREVA is engaged in the 21st century's greatest challenges: making energy available to all, protecting the planet, and acting responsibly toward future generations. AREVA Inc. is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.

FACT SHEET AREVA: World Leader in Uranium Enrichment Facts: — Uranium must be enriched before it can be used as nuclear reactor fuel. — The new AREVA enrichment facility will use advanced centrifuge technology. AREVA has more than 30 years experience operating enrichment facility safely. — Even if no new nuclear power plants are constructed, the U.S. market will require all of the output from the AREVA and other planned facilities.

What is Uranium Enrichment?

Nuclear power plants supply 20 percent of America's electricity safely and reliably.

Nuclear power plants use uranium as a fuel source. Uranium is a naturally occurring metal found in deposits throughout the world. In its natural state, it cannot be used by nuclear power plants. It must first go through a series of refinements.

After uranium ore is mined, it is processed into a concentrated form called yellowcake, due to its bright yellow color when dried at a low temperature and its powdery consistency. Impurities are then removed and the yellowcake is converted into a material called uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a suitable form for enrichment.

At this stage, the UF6 must be further processed, or enriched. The ultimate goal of enrichment is to increase the amount of a specific element in the UF6 — uranium-235. This element is the key building block of nuclear power plant fuel.

Enrichment Technologies There are two ways to enrich uranium: — Gaseous diffusion — Centrifuge technology

Gaseous diffusion, the technology used at the existing AREVA facility, involves passing uranium gas through porous barriers to separate out the needed uranium-235. This technology is still used today. However, there is also a more advanced technology using centrifuges that is increasingly becoming the standard around the world. This process is much more effective, using 50 times less electricity and significantly less water than gaseous diffusion.

In the centrifuge process, uranium gas is separated by high-speed rotation in a vacuum-sealed cylinder. The centrifugal force created by the rotation pushes the heavier particles in the gas outward towards the cylinder wall, where they fall to the bottom. The lighter uranium-235 particles migrate to the center, where they are transported upward and captured. This basic separation stage is repeated within a series of centrifuges called cascades. This method allows AREVA to increase the percentage of uranium-235.

When the uranium gas contains the appropriate percentage of uranium-235, it is cooled to form a crystalline solid. It is then shipped to a fuel fabrication facility where it eventually will be processed into the fuel assemblies that are used to generate electricity at nuclear power plants. The new AREVA enrichment facility will use this technology.

Increase U.S. Energy Independence

As demand for clean, CO2-free energy like nuclear power continues to increase both domestically and abroad, so too will the demand for reliable uranium enrichment services.

The United States currently imports nearly 90 percent of its enriched uranium. The Megatons-to-Megawatts program, formed through a treaty with Russia, provides more than half of America's enriched uranium for fuel and is set to expire in 2013. A new treaty is being developed but, once it is completed, will fall significantly short of the U.S. demand for enriched fuel.

The nation's first new nuclear power plants in more than three decades are anticipated to start operating as early as 2015. These new plants will require reliable uranium enrichment services. The demand for enrichment services to fuel these plants will quickly outpace the available supply.

Simply put, U.S. demand is expected to increase at about the same time that an important source of supply will disappear from the American market. The discrepancy between future supply and demand will not be entirely due to new reactors. Even without new reactors, demand for enrichment services will outpace supply in the coming years, both in the United States and in other countries. Consequently, we will need all of the output from the planned AREVA facility and other anticipated domestic suppliers will be needed to fill the U.S. supply gap.

Building an enrichment plant in the United States will help increase the fuel supply and help decrease its level of energy dependency.

AREVA's proposed U.S. uranium enrichment facility draws on long-term experience building and operating the Georges Besse I and II uranium enrichment facilities in France. The Georges Besse I plant has provided 25 percent of the world's enriched uranium and has done so with an excellent environmental and safety record.

AREVA: World Expert in Carbon-Free Energy Solutions

A world expert in CO2-free energy solutions, AREVA offers its customers technological and innovative solutions for highly reliable nuclear and renewable power generation and electricity transmission and distribution. AREVA is the only company that has expertise in every activity in the nuclear fuel lifecycle, including reactor construction.

AREVA bases their industrial strategy on three pillars of responsible development: financial performance, respect for the environment and commitment to employees and to the communities where it operates.

AREVA has a significant U.S. presence, employing more than 5,000 people at 45 sites located in 20 states across the country. In addition to AREVA's growing U.S. presence, the group employs more than 60,000 people in over 100 countries around the world.

SOURCE AREVA Inc.

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