Areva to build new nuclear plant

Paris: Areva, the world’s biggest builder of nuclear reactors, will build a new fuel-processing plant in Japan to more than double domestic capacity to meet anticipated demand growth.

The plant, part of a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd in which the French giant holds 30%, will process enriched uranium into uranium oxide, Remy Autebert, head of Areva’s Japan unit, said.

Areva is seeking a bigger share of the Japanese nuclear market, where it targets revenue of about €1 billion in “a few years” from about €700 million in 2008, Autebert said. Japan plans to add 12 reactors by 2019 as it increases nuclear dependence from 25% in 2008 to at least 40% by 2030 as part of efforts to reduce pollution blamed for global warming and cut dependence on oil.