France’s Areva and EDF have reached an agreement on the transportation, treatment and recycling of spent nuclear fuel.
In a joint statement today the two companies said they are due to sign the agreement contract before the end of the first quarter of 2010.
The deal follows a framework agreement reached in December 2008 that set out the principles of a long-term partnership for the treatment-recycling of used fuel and the fabrication of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel.
The two companies had previously agreed that from 2010 onwards EDF would increase the volume of spent fuel sent for treatment to Areva’s La Hague facility from 850 tonnes to 1,050 tonnes per year.
The framework agreement also stipulated an increase in the MOX fuel manufactured at Areva’s Melox site in southern France, which is destined for certain EDF nuclear plants, from 100 to 120 tonnes per year.
Both Areva and EDF said they are doing all they can to reach an agreement on the enrichment of EDF uranium at Areva’s Eurodif site in Tricastin in France.
