U.S. DOE Awards GNEP Contract Extension to AREVA and Mitsubishi Alliance

BETHESDA, Md., April 2, 2008 – The International Nuclear Recycling Alliance (INRA) – led by AREVA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. and including Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited, URS Washington Division, The Babcock and Wilcox Company, and Battelle – has just signed an agreement with the Department of Energy (DOE) extending its October 2007 contract. The contract extension, valued at $5.7 million, will enable INRA to continue its evaluation of a commercial closed nuclear fuel cycle in the United States in ways that reduce proliferation risk, increase energy security and support a sustainable used-fuel management solution.

Both the extension and the original contract were signed within the framework of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP). The contract allows further study of a nuclear fuel recycling center and an advanced recycling reactor center that would help close the nuclear fuel cycle by creating a means to manage both used nuclear fuel and final waste, while creating additional energy resources.

Under the terms of this extension, INRA will continue work on a business plan, investigate a licensing strategy, continue to analyze waste management solutions and recycling options for the proposed nuclear fuel recycling center, and study ways to optimize the advanced recycling reactor’s performance.

The nuclear fuel recycling center would recycle used fuel by first separating the used fuel into recyclable, energy-producing materials and final waste materials, and in the second stage would recycle the energy-producing components to manufacture fuel for use in commercial nuclear power plants both light water reactors and fast reactors. The advanced recycling reactor will be fueled with materials recovered from used reactor fuel, transforming some of radioactive materials into a more easily manageable waste form while producing energy.

ABOUT THE TEAM …

AREVA Inc., the leading nuclear energy products and services supplier in the United States, generated nearly $2 billion in revenue in 2007. The company has more than 5,000 employees, working at 45 locations in 20 states across the United States, all committed to serving the nation and paving the way for the future of the electricity market. AREVA Inc. combines homegrown leadership and access to world-class nuclear fuel cycle technology to provide customers a proven track record of performance.

The world’s leading nuclear fuel cycle company, AREVA is at the industry forefront in developing, deploying, and operating both treatment/recycling facilities and sodium-cooled reactors. In the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world, AREVA is engaged in the 21st century’s greatest challenges: making energy available to all, protecting the planet and acting responsibly toward future generations.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a world leader in comprehensive heavy machinery products supplier with consolidated sales of 3,068 billion yen in fiscal 2006 (year ended March 31, 2007). MHI’s diverse lineup of products and services encompasses shipbuilding, power plants, chemical plants, environmental equipment, steel structures, industrial and general machinery, aircraft space rocketry and air-conditioning systems. Regarding to nuclear energy, in a span of over four decades, MHI has accumulated vast experiences in supplying reliable products and services in the area of pressurize water reactor power plants (basic plans, designs, manufacture, construction, and maintenance), nuclear fuel, new-type advanced reactor plants including fast breeder reactors, and the nuclear fuel cycle.

Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) is Japan’s pioneer company in the field of commercial used nuclear fuel reprocessing, uranium enrichment, nuclear waste storage and disposal, and Mixed-Oxide fuel fabrication. In Rokkasho-mura, Aomori Prefecture, the test operation of the world’s newest commercial reprocessing plant, for which JNFL applied state-of-the-art reprocessing technology and implemented IAEA’s full scope safeguards capability, is successfully in progress. The mission of JNFL is to establish nuclear fuel cycle technologies for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) has five decades of experience owning and operating nuclear and national security production facilities both commercially and for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and is licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to fabricate, process, use and store highly enriched uranium. As the prime contractor or a member of a partnership team, B&W (formerly, BWX Technologies, Inc.) currently manages and operates 12 National Nuclear Security Administration and DOE sites. Over the course of its activities, B&W has acquired an extensive portfolio of providing both proprietary and contracted safeguards and security programs in manufacturing, production, research, and deactivation and decommissioning.

The transfer and repackaging of spent fuel B&W performs at its Lynchburg Technology Center is a routine function performed at commercial nuclear facilities and helps to demonstrate that this material can be safely and securely prepared and staged for recycling at a treatment center. B&W, whose products and services also include power generation and environmental, is a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc. [NYSE: MDR}. B&W is headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., and employs approximately 20,000 people.

URS Corporation is a leading provider of engineering, construction and technical services for public agencies and private sector companies around the world. The Company offers a broad range of planning, engineering and architectural design, environmental, construction, program and construction management, systems integration, operations and maintenance, management and a wide range of specialized technical services for the U.S. Federal Government, state and local government agencies, Fortune 500 companies and other multinational corporations.

URS provides services for transportation, hazardous waste, industrial infrastructure and process, petrochemical, general building, water/wastewater, military facilities and equipment platforms, and defense and security programs. Headquartered in San Francisco, the Company operates through three divisions: the URS Division, the EG&G Division and the Washington Division. URS Corporation has approximately 55,000 employees in a network of offices in more than 30 countries (http://www.urscorp.com/).  The URS Washington Division is a global leader in engineering, procurement, construction, testing, start-up and safe and efficient operation of complex nuclear and non-nuclear facilities.

Battelle is the world’s largest non-profit independent research and development organization, with 20,400 employees in more than 120 locations worldwide, including seven national laboratories that Battelle manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle conducts $4 billion in R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management, and technology commercialization. As a non-profit charitable trust with an eye toward the future, Battelle actively supports and promotes science and math education.