Areva’s new president and chief executive officer said the accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant might create new business opportunities for nuclear service providers as the industry’s focus moves to safety upgrades and plant dismantling.
Luc Oursel said that although the impact of the Japanese accident remained “difficult to assess in terms of lost business”, Areva was still convinced most countries would go ahead with their nuclear power plans.
“Safety tests planned around the world should delay the construction of reactors, but these tests will also be sources of opportunities at existing facilities,” Mr Oursel said.
“New opportunities could materialise with the dismantling of plants and the management of spent fuel.”
Mr Oursel, who replaced Anne Lauvergeon as head of the state-owned company last month, estimated there could be safety upgrades worth between 100 and 200 million euro (EUR) (142 to 284 million US dollars) per nuclear plant.
In a statement announcing its first-half results yesterday Areva said the longer term consequences of Fukushima-Daiichi for the company are being assessed. They could concern all operations in the nuclear cycle and will be included in a strategic plan to be prepared by the end of the second half of the year.
But the company said the fundamentals underpinning the development of the nuclear market are unchanged, including growth in demand for electricity, diminished fossil resources, the search for energy independence, and the growing need to address climate issues.
In the first half of 2011, Areva’s net profit stood at EUR 351 million, down from the EUR 843 million a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Centrica, the UK’s largest energy supplier, said the construction of new reactors is likely to be delayed while it awaits a government report on nuclear safety.
“New nuclear build will be delivered later than we had originally hoped and we expect clarity on the revised timetable towards the end of the year,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
Electricite de France (EDF) owns 15 of the UK’s 19 commercially operational nuclear reactor units, accounting for 18 percent of total power generation, and is planning to build four more. The Paris-based utility acquired all of the UK’s nuclear plants in 2008 before selling a 20 percent stake to Centrica, along with the option to be a minority investor in new plants.
