French Ambassador Tours MOX Facility
NS&D Monitor
3/20/2015
French Ambassador Gerard Araud visited the Savannah River Site this week, touring the controversial Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility project. Araud was accompanied by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and several other French officials and met with AREVA Chief Executive Officer Gary Mignogna as well as French employees at the site. Along with CB&I, AREVA is part of the team building the MOX facility, having built similar facilities in France to turn plutonium into fuel for commercial nuclear reactors.
The visit came on the heels of recent visits by two senior Department of Energy officials—Deputy Energy Secretary Liz Sherwood-Randall and National Nuclear Security Administration Principal Deputy Administrator Madelyn Creedon—and as DOE is preparing detailed analyses of alternatives to the multi-billion-dollar project. DOE attempted to put the project into cold standby a year ago, but Congress balked at the plan and forced construction to continue. DOE requested $345 million for the project in Fiscal Year 2016 as a placeholder until the reviews are completed.
Work on the project is about 65 percent complete, Araud said. “Everything about this project is impressive,” he said in a statement to NS&D Monitor. “AREVA can be proud to be transferring a proven technology that has been employed at La Hague and Melox facilities which have been operational for the past 20 years.” Araud noted that the project has employed about 2,300 direct personnel since its inception in 2007 and about 14,000 direct, indirect and induced jobs have been linked to the project. “The MOX facility is just the latest example of successful cooperation between France and the U.S.” Araud said. “It is a boost to the Southeast region.”
