Areva Inc. has chosen to build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls, Sen. Mike Crapo confirmed Tuesday morning. An official announcement was made at 10 a.m. at the Borah Post Office in Boise.

“Areva is a natural fit for Idaho because both are world leaders in nuclear research and technology.” Crapo said. “Today’s announcement is a credit to the Idaho National Laboratory personnel whose proven record of hard work, dedication and skill opened the door to landing this facility.”

The French government-backed nuclear company picked Idaho Falls over Carlsbad, New Mexico, for its first uranium enrichment plant in the United States. The plant will employ about 250 people and use high-speed centrifuge technology to enrich uranium.

The Idaho Legislature passed a law this session to cap the company’s property tax value at $400 million and eliminate sales tax on its equipment. The plant will be built on a site near the Idaho National Laboratory, where scientists have done research into nuclear energy since the 1940s, the company said Tuesday.

A late-session push in the Idaho Legislature to extend a sales tax exemption for production equipment that handles nuclear fuel and to cap property tax valuations at the plant to $400 million helped convince the company to select Idaho.

Areva plans to add this new U.S. plant by 2014 to help compensate for a U.S. nuclear fuel supply that could shrink. A program in which Russia has been converting weapons-grade uranium to low-enriched uranium and selling it to an Areva rival expires in 2013.

“The United States needs more clean energy to support its economic growth,” Michael McMurphy, Areva’s president, said in a statement. “To enable us to meet those needs we have to expand our domestic nuclear infrastructure, secure our supply of enrichment services, and reduce our reliance on foreign imports. This new enrichment plant is a critical part of this process.”

Before the plant is built, Areva still must get approval from local, state and national agencies, including a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct and operate the facility.

Areva selected Idaho over sites in Washington state, Ohio, Texas and New Mexico.

“While we had several attractive sites to choose from, we opted for Idaho Falls, which has strong ties to nuclear energy, and which welcomed Areva and its proposed enrichment facility to become a new member of its community,” McMurphy said.

Areva is already building a similar, larger uranium enrichment plant in France.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission took applications to build seven new commercial U.S. nuclear reactors last year, with 25 more licensing requests expected through 2009. As interest in nuclear power grows, there are two other uranium enrichment plants being built in the United States, one in southeastern New Mexico and another in Piketon, Ohio.

Article written by Rocky Barker and The Associated Press - rbarker @idahostatesman.com

Edition Date: 05/06/08