Areva: in crisis in France, looking at Idaho

Comment: Series of blogs from New Mexico, they are being attacked by large French corp plus other articles of interest, so much of this can be related back to our county!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Areva: in crisis in France, looking at Idaho

As the uranium enrichment plant in New Mexico tests its centrifuges and begins receiving uranium hexafluoride, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has just accepted for review "an application by Areva Enrichment Services LLC for a license to construct and operate a centrifuge uranium enrichment plant in Bonneville County, Idaho

".Areva, Areva...where did I read that name recently?Oh, right, in this story from the Pacific Free Press, titled, "The Crash of France's Nuclear 'Success'"Here's an excerpt:

Areva, France's nationally-owned corporate atomic façade, has plunged into a deep financial crisis led by a devastating shortage of cash. Electricite de France, the French national utility, has been raided by European Union officials charging that its price-fixing may be undermining competition throughout the continent. Delays and cost overruns continue to escalate at Areva's catastrophic Olkiluoto reactor construction project in Finland.

Areva has admitted to a $2.2 billion, or 55%, cost increase in the Finnish building site after three and a half years. The Flamanville project---the only one now being built in France---is already over $1 billion more expensive than projected after a single year under construction.Here's a second excerpt, but please do read the story in its entirety here:

Widely portrayed as the model of corporate success, reactor-builder Areva is desperately short of money. As it begs a bailout from its dominant owner, the French government, Areva's mismanagement and overextension in promoting and building new reactors has wrecked its image in worldwide capital markets.

According to Mycle Schneider, Paris-based author of "Nuclear Power in France---Beyond the Myth," Areva shares have plunged by over 60% since June 2008, twice as much as the CAC40, the standard indicator of the 40 largest French companies on the stock market.Areva's hyper-active public relations department has made much of recent orders to build two new reactors in China.

But it's now begging France's taxpayers for some $4 billion in short term bailout money, and may need still another $6 billion more to pay for investments in uranium mines, fuel production and heavy manufacturing ventures.Areva will also need more than 2 billion Euros (about US$3 billion) to buy back shares in its nuke reactor unit after Germany's Siemens pulled out of a joint venture.

There have been significant, highly-publicized bumps in the Chinese transaction.

And Areva may now be forced to pony up billions more in penalties from delays and overruns at its reactor construction fiasco in Finland.The Finnish government will also have to meet additional costs from trading in carbon emissions because it had firmly counted on the new reactor to supply "green" power as of this year.

Olkiluoto is now not expected to deliver electricity before 2012.Areva's woes have caused French President Nicolas Sarkozy to face possible job cuts and asset sales at the government-controlled energy giant, which was formed in 2001.

Courtesy of the NRC's press release, here's more information about the Idaho proposal:

The Areva application, minus certain classified and sensitive portions (e.g., proprietary information), is available on the NRC Web site at this page: http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/arevanc.html. The application has been assigned docket number 70-7015.

Monday, August 18, 2008

SAIC and NRC

There's a very important story in today's Washington Post about conflict of interest, involving the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the private company, Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC. (maybe like the Uranium Study?)

Here's an excerpt:

For years, Science Applications International Corp. served as an adviser to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the development of rules for when radioactive materials could be released from nuclear facilities for recycling.

At the same time, SAIC worked as a contractor on just such a recycling project at a Department of Energy facility, but it did not disclose the conflict as required by federal regulations, according to evidence gathered by the Justice Department.

A company executive also helped run an association that advocated for favorable recycling standards, and the firm was planning a business that could have been affected by rules it was helping to write, Justice documents show.

After hearing testimony about SAIC's apparent conflicts of interest, a federal jury recently found the firm guilty of making dozens of false and fraudulent claims for payment relating to the NRC work.


The NRC, by the way, is the federal agency that oversees things like permits for nuclear power plants and uranium mining, as well as radiation protection.

Here's another excerpt:

SAIC provides scientific, engineering and systems integration services to the Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security, intelligence community and other government agencies. More than a third of its 44,000 employees work in the Washington region.
I
n the July 31 decision, a federal jury concluded that the firm's executives knowingly concealed business interests that stood to benefit from its consulting role at the NRC.

It found that SAIC had made 17 false statements and 60 false claims under the Federal False Claims Act.

A U.S. District judge will determine the total amount of fines that SAIC must pay.

Why should anyone in Albuquerque care about such a story?

Aside from the fact that we're like the defense contractor capital of America, and the state hosts two national labs, a stockpile of nuclear weapons, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant--we also have an SAIC office here.

Worth paying attention to, for sure. And if you want to read more about SAIC, Vanity Fair ran a story about the company last year, titled Washington's $8 Billion Shadow.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

the temptation of uranium
.
..And here's the Abq Journal perspective on uranium mining.

This story isn't about mining on the Navajo reservation, but rather on the Juan Tafoya Land Grant near Marquez.

Heirs have leased their mineral rights to Neutron Energy. Here's an excerpt:

If Neutron's application is approved by state regulators, the company will reactivate the old Bokum mine and rebuild the old Bokum mill.

Both were built, then abandoned before they ever produced a bucket of ore when the bottom fell out of the uranium market.

There are about 16 million pounds of uranium still under the Juan Tafoya Land Grant and, when the mine and mill are cranking, Neutron envisions 450 full-time jobs here in this isolated spot.And here's another:

At a meeting in Grants earlier this summer to discuss labeling nearly the entire mountain a protected cultural property to require the tribes be consulted before any activity — including mining — was permitted, the high school gym was literally divided: Mining advocates on one side, tribal people on the other.

The 500 or so land grant heirs of Marquez say they respect the people sitting on the other side of the gym, but they have made up their minds.

They can't wait for the mining to begin."The mine will enable us to live here full time," says Martinez, who lives with his family in Albuquerque.

"Our kids will come back to the land. We want an opportunity to make our land better and for our people to continue and to prosper.

"Stories like these kind of break my heart, because yes, rural communities need jobs.

But resource extraction jobs (will they be union jobs? long-term jobs? jobs with health care and benefits?) often leave behind a terrible legacy.

You can read of the lessons the Navajo learned, just by checking out the Dine Natural Resources Protection Act the tribal council passed a few years back.

It's a really powerful document, that lays out the economic, social, cultural, spiritual and environmental why the tribe opposes any more uranium mining on its lands.