Orano Projets, the engineering subsidiary of French state-owned nuclear fuel group Orano (formerly New Areva) has agreed with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to undertake preparatory work for the sale of a 800-tonne fuel reprocessing plant – a project which has been under discussion and subject to previous agreements for the past 10 years, the first being a November 2007 agreement to assess the feasibility of setting up a plant in China based on Areva's La Hague and Melox plants.
Orano said on 25 June that the new agreement was confirmed during a visit by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to China. The agreement is valid until the end of 2018 and covers work to be carried out by Orano to prepare for the sale of the plant. An Orano spokeswoman said the work, which would cost the company about €20m ($23.4m), would cover project management and quality control paperwork. Previous negotiations stumbled over price, which remains one of the key issues still to be agreed.
During the visit to China by French President Emmanuel Macron in January, a memorandum of commercial agreement for the construction the facility was signed by New Areva and CNNC. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire then said the deal would be worth €10bn and that France had been given assurances a contract would be signed this spring. However talks are continuing with no contract as yet agreed. Ten years ago, Areva had expected a deal for €15bn.
