Areva executives recently signed a letter of intent with China National Nuclear Corp. to build a nuclear fuel recycling facility in China.
Terms of the deal and the potential location for the plant were not announced, but an Areva release said the agreement covers technical specifications, project organization and the scope of work. The plant would have a processing capacity of 800 metric tons of fuel annually. The agreement was formalized Thursday during a summit by French President Francois Hollande and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
The same day, Areva also announced it had advanced discussions with CNNC related to Areva-owned equity in Niger's Imouraren mine that the Chinese company wants to purchase. The French company also reached an agreement with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. and EDF aimed at enhancing their commercial and industrial cooperation, potentially to include building additional reactors. The companies are currently building two Areva EPR units at China's Taishan nuclear plant.