AREVA COMURHEX Malvési, first industrial site in France to receive ISO 50001 certification from AFNOR

Energy management is a major issue in the fight against global warming. As part of its sustainable development policy, the AREVA group encourages all of its industrial sites to set up an energy management system. The objective is to conserve energy by consuming wisely.

Conscious of the economic, societal and environmental challenges, and while currently working on the renewal of its industrial tool through the COMURHEX II project, the COMURHEX Malvési site began a proactive initiative for ISO 50001 certification related to its Energy Management System.

Following a late October 2012 audit by AFNOR of its energy consumption and equipment maintenance and replacement policy to consume energy wisely, the site has just received the first level of that certification.

COMURHEX Malvési is the first industrial site in France to receive ISO 50001 certification from AFNOR. This certification joins the trio of certifications already received – ISO 9001 (Quality Management System), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and OHSAS 18001 (Health and Safety Management System) – and allows energy saving benefits.

“This recognition is the fruit of teamwork and engaged in a joint energy conservation initiative. The COMURHEX Malvési site is committed to sharing its experience with the AREVA group’s other sites to continually improve overall industrial performance,” notes Jean-Marc Ligney, COMURHEX Malvési Director.

COMURHEX Malvési

A wholly owned subsidiary of the AREVA group, COMURHEX Malvési converts natural uranium into uranium tetrafluoride (UF₄), the stage between uranium mining and uranium enrichment. The site is located at the Malvézy industrial zone in Narbonne (France) and has more than 300 employees. AREVA is investing more than 600 million euros in the COMURHEX II* project to replace its uranium ore conversion plants, one third of which is going to the Malvési site. www.areva.com

* at the Tricastin and Malvési sites.

ISO 50001 – Energy Management

ISO 50001 is an international standard that helps businesses and organizations in all sectors use energy more efficiently through the development of an energy management system. 

ISO 50001 is based on the management system model of continual improvement also used for other well-known standards such as ISO 9001 or ISO 14001.

Since publication of ISO 50001 last year, implementation and certification to ISO’s new energy management standard is gaining pace around the world. About 100 organizations in 26 countries had already achieved certification, and are reaping the benefits in increased energy efficiency, reduced costs and improved energy performance. www.iso.org