Areva awarded uranium powder supply contract

PARIS, FRANCE - Areva signed a long-term contract with Cameco Corporation valued at an estimated $65 million to supply uranium powder for OntarioÂ’s nuclear reactors.

Over the initial 11-year term of the contract, Areva will supply slightly enriched uranium and blended dysprosium uranium powder destined for the Bruce Power A reactors in Ontario, Canada.

Cameco will use these powder products to fabricate low void reactivity fuel assemblies being introduced in CANDU reactor operation to improve reactor fuel performance under transient conditions.

This contract represents the culmination of efforts between Areva and Cameco that began in June 2005. Under terms of the contract, Areva's fuel fabrication facility in Richland, Wash., will supply 100 percent of the SEU and BDU powder to the Bruce Power A reactors beginning in 2010 and continuing through 2020. The contract also includes two optional five-year extension periods, providing the potential for a 21-year supply agreement.

The scope of the contract includes design, construction and qualification of a dedicated BDU blending system using processes conceptually designed by Cameco, qualification of a modified SEU blending system in Richland's Dry Conversion Facility and the production and transportation of powder to Cameco's fuel fabrication facility in Port Hope, Ontario.

The contract also includes the design, licensing and fabrication of specialized transportation containers.