Enrichment : Georges Besse II plant reaches full capacity

The AREVA Georges Besse II enrichment plant successfully reached its full production capacity of 7.5 million SWUs¹ in 2016, on schedule as planned. The plant has gradually been able to ramp up its activity thanks to the modularity of its production process.

The most recent qualification tests carried out have confirmed the performance capabilities of the plant's equipment with its industrial facilities showing rates of efficiency in excess of 99%.

The Georges Besse II plant is located on the AREVA site at Tricastin in the South of France. The plant is made up of two units, commissioned in 2011 and in 2013 respectively. It uses the centrifugation technology which offers the best possible guarantees in terms of safety, competitiveness and energy savings, technical reliability, and environmental impact.

The new support workshop responsible for reconditioning, sampling and quality control of materials, which was commissioned at the start of 2015, has now also reached its full production capacity.

"Georges Besse II is no longer just a plan. It is now an industrial reality. It is thanks to the unwavering commitment of the group's engineering teams and the industrial platform at Tricastin over the last 10 years that we have been able to make this large-scale project such a success. Our industrial facilities for enrichment have been fully modernized. They now comply with the highest safety standards. Our production results and the success of the performance tests demonstrate the quality of our industrial facilities and AREVA’s ongoing commitment to guarantee its customers security of supply," says Antoine Troesch, Senior Executive Vice President of AREVA's Chemistry/Enrichment Business Unit.

[1] Separative Work Unit