USA: AREVA completes significant milestone in the U.S. EPR™ Design Certification

AREVA completed the third phase of the U.S. EPR™ Design Certification Application review, a significant step toward the final design certification ruling by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).  Phase Three represents completion of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) review of the safety evaluation report with open items. Completing this next phase moves the process forward to the advanced safety evaluation phase for the final design certification now scheduled for end 2014, in alignment with the development plans of our US customers.

“Reaching this milestone is a significant accomplishment and validates our commitment to complete the U.S. EPR™ Design Certification process,” said Tom Franch, AREVA Inc. Senior Vice President of Reactors and Services. “We worked closely with the NRC and with our utility partners to reach this milestone, and we look forward to a successful completion, enabling our customers to proceed at a pace conducive to their business models.”

AREVA’s EPR™ nuclear reactor is the most advanced new-generation, high-power output pressurized reactor, and is considered at the forefront of nuclear power plant design and safety. The EPR™ reactor is designed to satisfy the demands of electrical utility companies for ever-increasing levels of safety and competitiveness while more cost-efficiently meeting the energy requirements of tomorrow.

The EPR™ design is the most scrutinized advanced design in the world with four EPR™ reactors currently under construction in Finland, France and China; and the design reviews for at least four plants in the United States and the United Kingdom moving forward. Completing phase three in the Design Certification application process brings AREVA and its U.S. partner’s one step closer in deployment of the EPR™ plant to provide safe, efficient and reliable power to the energy mix.