Engineering news
French nuclear group Areva is in “serious dialogue” with 60 UK firms over the creation of long-term partnership arrangements for its civil nuclear new-build programme.
The first batch of deals, which will underpin Areva’s plans to play a major role in the construction of nuclear power stations in the UK, is expected to be announced in the next few weeks. The company has already said that it is to partner with Rolls-Royce and Balfour Beatty to deliver a fleet of generation III EPR pressurised water reactors for the UK market.
Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive of Areva, said that a supplier day held in Birmingham in 2009 had been hugely successful in highlighting a significant number of UK firms that were capable of playing a role in its new-build construction programme. She said that discussions had subsequently progressed with 60 companies with which it was looking to form alliances.
“We are not looking for suppliers, we want partners,” said Lauvergeon. “I want British partners to share the benefits of Areva’s new-build programme. Success in the UK could also mean international success. We do not want to reinvent the wheel in other countries. What we want is strong relationships with a series of companies who can work with us globally. We are looking for strong ties.”
Lauvergeon said that construction of nuclear power stations in the UK would help to regenerate an entire industry and, potentially, could create thousands of long-term jobs for highly qualified people. She said that Areva had a long history of co-operation with UK companies and that it held British nuclear skills in high regard.
Lauvergeon’s comments came as she delivered a wide-ranging Royal Academy of Engineering lecture in London at the end of last month. She used her time at the podium to call for a more streamlined approach to nuclear new-build safety regulation in Europe, labelling the need to meet different criteria in 27 separate licensing regimes an “exhausting exercise”. She said: “It seems to be a national affirmation of authority. It would be easier for them to establish common rules.”
She insisted that Areva would never make any compromises on reactor safety, and said that new safety features on generation III EPRs, such as reduction of core melt probability and improvements to reactor containment capabilities, would result in a 10-15% price premium compared to previous designs.
And Lauvergeon explained why Areva was capable of building reactors in China far quicker than it could in Europe. “The capability of civil works companies in China is incredible,” she said. “They work in a very rapid way. And that’s because of technological capability rather than having large numbers of men on the ground.”
Lauvergeon said she was sceptical that nuclear fusion would play any meaningful role in the future energy mix. “Nuclear fusion is always for the next 40 years. In the 1960s it was for 2000. Now it’s for 2045.”
She said that technological advancement would be incremental, rather than being characterised by a sudden leap in capability. Lauvergeon added that affordable and efficient storage of electricity was the most likely near-term achievement.
Advice shop
The Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) is running a nuclear supply chain workshop – Winning Business in the Nuclear Renaissance – on 17 February.
The workshop will feature leading names in the nuclear industry including AMEC, Sellafield, the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, the Nuclear Industry Association and Bureau Veritas. The event will focus on subjects ranging from contracts and tendering, quality codes and standards, auditing and assurance through to nuclear development and business capability.
The event will involve more than 150 small and medium sized manufacturers looking to access the supply chain of nuclear developments in the UK and abroad over the next 15-20 years. To find out more about the MAS nuclear support programme visit www.mas.bis.gov.uk/nuclear.