Eurodif
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Eurodif,which meansEuropean Gaseous Diffusion Uranium EnrichmentConsortium,is a subsidiary of theFrenchcompanyOrano,which operates auranium enrichmentplant, called theGeorges-Besse plant,established at theTricastin Nuclear Power CenterinPierrelatteinDrôme.The nuclear site of Pierrelatte includes many nuclear installations, of which the largest are the Eurodif fuel factory and the Tricastinnuclear power station.
Enriched uraniumis the preferred fuel forlight water reactors,a commonnuclear powertechnology.
History
[edit]In 1973France,Belgium,Italy,SpainandSwedenformed thejoint stock companyEURODIF.Swedenwithdrew from the project in 1974. In 1975 Sweden's 10 per cent share in EURODIF was transferred toIranas a result of an arrangement between France and Iran. The French government subsidiary company Cogema and the Iranian Government established the Sofidif (Société franco–iranienne pour l'enrichissement de l'uranium par diffusion gazeuse) enterprise with 60 per cent and 40 per cent shares, respectively. In turn, Sofidif acquired a 25 per cent share in EURODIF, through which Iran attained its 10 per cent share of EURODIF.
In 1974, theMohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi,Shah ofIran,lent $1 billion (and another $180 million in 1977) for the construction of the factory, in order to have the right to buy 10% of the production. Iran remains a shareholder of Eurodif via Sofidif. The Franco-Iranian consortium shareholder still owns 25% of Eurodif.
The Georges-Besse plant, named afterGeorges Besse,its founder, provides uranium to forty producers of nuclear electricity, includingEDF,France's largest electric power company.
Naturally occurringuraniumcontains 0.7% ofuranium 235.It can be enriched up to 5% by a gas diffusion process usinguranium hexafluoride(UF6). France decided to abandon the gas diffusion process used by the Eurodif Georges Besse I factory for a moderncentrifuge process.The project announced byAreva NCto make the change was the subject of a public discussion in theRhône-Alpesregion from September 1 to October 22, 2004. The advantage of the new process is that it is more energy efficient: Georges Besse I used the power generated by all three (2,700 MW) of Tricastin's nuclear reactors for uranium enrichment, whereas the new centrifuge-based Georges Besse II plant can make similar amounts of uranium with only 50 MW.
Dismantlingthe original Eurodif facility is planned to be completed by the end of 2020.