Reports indicate two German utilities are preparing to sell their stake in Urenco, a uranium enrichment company that recently opened a new centrifuge plant in New Mexico.
Handelsblatt, a German business newspaper, quoted unnamed sources from RWE and E.ON as saying they've hired consultants to begin the process of selling their Urenco holdings. The moves follow the German government's decision to phase out nuclear power after the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan.
Urenco's other owners include the governments of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In recent years, the UK also has indicated it wants to sell its 33 percent stake in the company. Divestment by any party would require the approval of Urenco's other owners, and the newspaper indicated the Dutch government may try to stop the potential sales.
Urenco, according to its website, provides uranium enrichment for 50 utilities in 17 countries and has a market share of about 27 percent. In addition to plants in Europe, the company recently completed an enrichment facility near Eunice, N.M., that will have the capacity to produce 5,700 metric tons of separative work per year (tSW/a).