Areva
Areva S.A. was a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power, active between 2001 and 2018. It was headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, Banque publique d'investissement, and Agence des participations de l'État. Électricité de France, in which the French government has a majority ownership stake, owned 2.24%; the Kuwait Investment Authority owned 4.82% as the second largest shareholder after the French state.
As a part of the restructuring program following its insolvency, Areva sold or discontinued its renewable energy businesses and sold its reactors subsidiary Areva NP to EDF. Its nuclear propulsion and research reactors subsidiary Areva TA was sold to the Agence des participations de l'État and its nuclear cycle business was reorganized into a separate company New Areva. A new holding, Areva S.A., was also created to act as a hive-off vehicle for Areva's ongoing “at-risk” activities, including the completion and delivery of the Olkiluoto 3 in Finland, execution of Areva's remaining renewable energy projects, and finalization of the sale of Areva NP to EDF.
In 2017, the sale of Areva TA was finalized and in January 2018, so was that of Areva NP, while New Areva was rebranded Orano; these developments marked the end of the Areva group.
History
Creation
Areva was created on 3 April 2001 by the merger of Framatome, Cogema and Technicatome. It was based on the structure of its precursor, CEA-Industrie. Anne Lauvergeon became its first CEO.Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the former Prime Minister of France, announced the privatization of Areva in 2003, but it was postponed several times, the French government opting finally for the privatization of GDF and EDF. At the end of October 2005, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced that he had suspended the privatization process.
In 2003, Areva secured a contract for the Olkiluoto 3 project, which foresaw construction of the third generation EPR-type pressurised water reactor. In 2004 a contracted fixed price was established as €3.2 billion. Construction started in 2005.
In 2004, Areva acquired Alstom's transmission and distribution activities, which became Areva T&D. It was sold back to Alstom and Schneider Electric in June 2010.
On 15 September 2005, Areva and Constellation Energy of Baltimore announced a joint venture called UniStar Nuclear to market the commercial EPR in the United States. The joint venture later became UniStar Nuclear Energy in 2007. In 2010, EDF acquired 100% of UniStar Nuclear Energy. However these plans failed to come to fruition, and in February 2015 Areva suspended the EPR Design Certification Application Review process at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In 2006, Areva created its renewable energies business group. Creusot Forge and Creusot Mécanique merged into the Areva group, even though there were quality concerns over Creusot Forge's work. In 2007, Areva purchased 51% of offshore wind turbine manufacturer Multibrid. Multibrid has been a start-up and German offshore wind pioneer, producing wind turbines in Bremerhaven. The innovative M5000 wind turbine has a compact medium speed drive train and carbon rotor blades. The patented air treatment to prevent corrosion was unique. The turbine was designed by aerodyn Energiesysteme GmbH.
In 2015 the renewable unit of Areva changed into ADWEN GmbH.
In June 2010, Areva purchased the remaining 49% and formed Areva Wind. In February 2010, Areva bought Ausra, and renamed it Areva Solar.
In 2007, Areva purchased UraMin, which later became Areva Resources Southern Africa.
In 2007, Areva started construction of the Flamanville 3 EPR reactor. In addition, in November 2007 Areva agreed to an €8 billion deal with the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group to supply them with two EPRs for Taishan Nuclear Power Plant. Under the terms of the agreement, Areva also had to help operate the plant, including the reprocessing of spent fuel. Also in 2007, Areva and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries created a joint venture named Atmea to develop a 1,100 MWe Atmea-1 pressurised water reactor. In 2009, Siemens sold its remaining shares of Areva NP and Arvea NP became wholly owned by Areva. At the same year, Areva NP acquired 30% stake in the Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel company.
On 6 May 2008, Areva announced that it would seek all necessary approvals to build an enrichment facility in Bonneville County, Idaho. The project was later cancelled. Also in 2008, Areva was awarded an operations contract to clean up the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site as part of the Nuclear Management Partners consortium, made up of URS, Amec and Areva.
In June 2008, Areva reached an agreement with Kazatomprom to create a joint-venture Katco.
On 4 February 2009, Areva signed a memorandum to supply two to six nuclear reactors to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited for the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
In March 2010, Areva indicated work was being done on a new type of burner reactor type capable of breaking down actinides created as a product of nuclear fission.
In 2011, Areva was listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Paris.
Post-Fukushima problems
In December 2011, Areva suspended building work at several sites in France, Africa and the United States, one day after forecasting a €1.6 billion loss.Areva halted "capacity extensions" at its La Hague Reprocessing Plant, in northern France, at its Melox factory in the southwest, and at two sites attached to its Tricastin power plant in the south. Work has also stopped on extensions to uranium mines in Bakouma in the Central African Republic, Trekkopje in Namibia, and Ryst Kuil in South Africa, and caused a potential delay in construction until a capital solution is secured for the [|Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility] in the United States. Areva wrote off most of the $2.5 billion purchase cost of Canadian uranium mining company Uramin, purchased in 2007, after concluding that its uranium ore deposits were of negligible value.
In September 2014 Standard & Poor's stated it might downgrade Areva's credit rating following weak first-half results, leading to Areva indicating it would cut capital spending and dispose of some assets. In March 2015 Standard & Poor's further downgraded Areva's credit rating to BB− after Areva posted a €4.8 billion loss for 2014.
In 2012, Areva acquired the hydrogen technology developer Compagnie européenne des technologies de l'hydrogène and renamed it Areva H2Gen. In the same year, it inaugurated a hydrogen storage system called the MYRTE platform near Ajaccio, Corsica. The system aims to establish the feasibility of a storage solution for solar energy using hydrogen technologies, which would serve as a back-up system to stabilize Corsica's power grid. In 2014, Areva's energy storage and management system, the Greenergy Box, was added to the existing installation, in operation since early 2013. In January 2014, Areva and Spain's wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica created on the basis of Areva Wind a joint venture Adwen. In August 2014, Areva exited the solar industry.
In October 2013, Areva won a $2.7 billion contract to supply two EPR nuclear reactors with nuclear steam supply and control systems at the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset, England. It will also provide uranium extraction and enrichment for the fuel fabrication stage.
In December 2013, Areva and China General Nuclear Power agreed to a partnership in renewable energy, with a focus on offshore wind, biomass, concentrated solar power, and energy storage.
In October 2014, CEO Luc Oursel took a leave of absence for health reasons. He died in December of the same year. On 20 November 2014 Standard & Poor's downgraded Areva long-term debt to BB+ and short-term-debt to A-3.
In May 2014, Areva, through its subsidiary CETH2, and the ADEME, announced the creation of the AREVA H2-Gen joint venture.
In December 2015 operations at Le Creusot Forge were stopped following a discovery at the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant. About 400 large steel forgings manufactured by Le Creusot Forge since 1965 found to have carbon-content irregularities that weakened the steel. A widespread programme of reactor checks was started involving a progressive programme of reactor shutdowns. This caused power price increases in Europe as France increased electricity imports, especially from Germany, to augment supply. In December 2016 international inspectors found evidence of recent doctored paperwork, which had not been detected by Areva's independent quality control checks. In April 2017 Autorité de sûreté nucléaire published the requirements for forging to resume at Le Creusot Forge. In August 2017 ASN published a draft decision requiring the examination of Le Creusot Forge manufacturing records of all components during scheduled reactor refuelling outages.