11 Sep (NucNet): French nuclear group Orano has inaugurated a €1.15bn uranium conversion plant at its Tricastin site in southern France.
The state-owned company said in a statement on 10 September 2018 that the Philippe Coste conversion plant will account for a quarter of the world’s 60,000-tonne annual uranium hexafluoride (UF6) production capacity when it fully ramps up in 2021 and is set to have the industry’s lowest costs.
The new plant is part of a broader industrial modernisation programme at the Tricastin site. The group has invested over €5bn in the programme over the past decade.
Orano said the Philippe Coste pant, and the Georges Besse II plant on the same site, will be used to manufacture nuclear fuel to produce low-carbon electricity for more than 90 million homes.
