Nella regione della Drome è in corso uno dei progetti più strategici della Francia, se non dell’Europa. Orano investe 1,7 miliardi di euro per ampliare l’impianto di arricchimento dell’uranio. Lavori in corso.

After expansion, the plant will produce enough enriched uranium to supply 220 million homes with electricity.

The goal: to produce more enriched uranium to supply nuclear power plants in France, The European Union and The United States and no longer depend on external supplies.

Enrichment is a crucial step in the nuclear fuel cycle: it increases the proportion of fissile isotopes in uranium to make it usable in a nuclear power plant.

Currently, four major producers share the global enrichment market:
– Two Western enrichers (Urenco USA and Orano FR),

– One Russian enricher (Rosatom)

– and one Chinese enricher (CNNC).

The Russian and Chinese markets are closed to Western suppliers. Globally, Urenco has 25% of production capacity, Orano has 21%, and Rosatom has 40%.

The planned investment will increase the capacity of Orano’s Tricastin enrichment plant (which already produces 21% of the world’s enriched uranium) by a third. It supplies EDF as well as foreign markets such as nuclear power plants in South Korea or Japan.
In total, the plant will cover 100,000 m2. Commissioning is scheduled for 2028.

Orano will copy this infrastructure in the United States in Tennessee to further expend and drastically boost Enrichment production capacities.

https://www.sfen.org/rgn/orano-usa-veut-construire-une-usine-denrichissement-duranium-dans-le-tennessee/

Merci pour l’info

Le chantier d’extension de capacité de l’usine Georges Besse II a été inauguré le jeudi 10 octobre 2024. D’un montant prévisionnel de 1,7 milliard d’euros, le projet vise à augmenter la capacité d’enrichissement de 30 % passant ainsi de 7,5 à 10 millions millions d’UTS[

https://www.sfen.org/rgn/orano-lance-lextension-de-lusine-denrichissement-georges-besse-ii/