France's Areva signs agreements with its Chinese partners, EDF

PARIS - The French nuclear power giant Areva has signed several major agreements with its Chinese partners China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power (CGN) and the largest French Power company EDF, Areva announced Tuesday in a press release.

According to Areva, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CNNC for a used fuel processing and recycling facility has been signed, marking a new step forward in the Chinese project.

The MOU formalizes the end of technical discussions, defines the schedule for commercial negotiations and confirms the willingness of both groups to finalize the negotiations in the shortest possible timeframe, Areva said.

Another agreement with CNNC enlarging and deepening existing areas of bilateral cooperation covers the entire fuel cycle, Areva said, adding that it covers the extraction and conversion of uranium, fabrication of zirconium fuel assemblies, deconstruction and dismantling, transportation and recycling.

In the field of reactors, with the support of Areva, EDF and CNNC plan to study, in particular, the possibility of closer cooperation in medium- and high-power reactors, particularly in the area of industrial procurement, according to the French giant.

The agreement also concerns greater cooperation in research and development. A letter of intent was signed together with CGN and EDF on establishing a long-term partnership in the field of medium- and high-power reactors, which takes into account, in particular, experience feedback from Taishan Phase 1.

It is noted that Areva's net income has been a loss of 4,834 million euros in 2014 compared with a loss of 494 million euros in 2013. A closer cooperation with Chinese partners will be favorable for Areva to end earlier its commercial difficulties.