On Tricastin, the largest nuclear complex in Europe, the French Orano is preparing to increase its production capacity for enriched uranium, a strategic component for supplying reactors around the world: since the war in Ukraine, Russian uranium has minus the rating.
In Drôme, at the gates of Provence, this 6.5 km2 industrial-nuclear complex resembling Fort Knox houses a “well-kept secret”: the production of enriched uranium, or the final stage before the manufacture of nuclear fuel that will be loaded into reactors to generate electricity. With 12% of the world enrichment market share and 60 customers worldwide, including the French energy company EDF and South Korea, Orano (formerly Areva) is already a major player in the market. But the war in Ukraine has whetted new appetites.
In the wake of the Russian invasion, Orano relaunched a project to expand its enrichment plant inaugurated in 2010, for an estimated investment of between 1.3 and 1.7 billion euros. As with any project with an environmental stake, the public is called upon to debate this possible extension under the aegis of the National Commission for Public Debate, from February 1 to April 9.
