Social rating of the activity of uranium mining by Vigeo

11/21/2005
Press release

At the start of 2005, AREVA enlisted Vigeo to perform a rating exercise to assess the social responsibility of its uranium mining activity.

The Vigeo audit process measures social responsibility in five different areas: human rights, human resources, environment, customer and supplier relations, and community involvement.
On a scale of 1 to 4*, Vigeo puts AREVA's uranium mining activity at “an average level” of between 2 and 3 depending on the area.

* 4 is the highest grade and represents a company's “high level of commitment” in the area in question


Yves Coupin, AREVA Senior Vice President of Sustainable Development and Continuous Improvement, stated: “The Vigeo evaluation of AREVA's uranium mining activity is part of an effort by the group to examine the sustainable development stakes of its businesses and measure its social commitment practices using recognized standards. This rating process saw the Mining Business Unit come in at an average level. Yet the last three years show a positive trend in all of the five areas examined, which stands as a testimony to the Continuous Improvement initiative carried out within AREVA.”

A summary of the rating report is available on AREVA's website: http://www.areva.com/  

About VIGEO

Vigeo is a European Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) rating agency. Vigeo's tripartite shareholding structure is innovative, consisting of institutional investors, European trade unions and European companies of worldwide scope. Created in July 2002 and headed by Nicole Notat (Chairman), Vigeo is striving to achieve a position of European leadership in the field of CSR rating, in order to:

• Promote corporate social responsibility as a measurable managerial practice integrating the long-term social, environmental and community interests of the company's stakeholders into its strategic objectives
• Produce reliable company ratings meeting the needs of investors (Equitics , ASPI ) and of company directors (Overnance ).
• Promote and disseminate a transparent, reliable and objective rating standard based on the principles and objectives formulated by internationally recognised conventions, recommendations and codes of conduct (UN, ILO, OECD...), and on local and regional legislation and industry-specific agreements.
For more information: http://www.vigeo.fr/  

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