Company Picks Idaho for Uranium Enrichment Plant
Posted on: Monday, 12 May 2008, 03:00 CDT
By Shifrin, Simon
The French-owned energy firm Areva Inc. has decided to build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls. The Associated Press broke the story this morning.
Areva said in a press release today that the facility would be built 18 miles west of Idaho Falls, near the Idaho National Laboratory, where scientists have done research into nuclear energy since the 1940s. The company plans to open the plant by 2014.
The plant will employ 250 full-time workers and need about 1,000 people for the construction, starting as soon as 2011.
The facility will provide enrichment services to nuclear plant operators using centrifuge technology developed by the Enrichment Technology Company Ltd., an Areva subsidiary, the press release said.
Spokeswoman Laurence Pernot said on Tuesday that Areva picked Idaho over four other sites because of the availability of skilled workers, good geotechnical conditions, land availability and an attractive package of tax incentives passed by the Legislature this year.
Lawmakers agreed to cap the company's property tax valuation at $400 million and to broaden a sales tax exemption for nuclear fuel production equipment if Areva decided to build here.
Idaho state and federal officials are hailing news of what will be the largest commercial energy project in the state's history.
Credit: Simon Shifrin
(Copyright 2008 Dolan Media Newswires)
(c) 2008 Idaho Business Review, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Idaho Business Review, The
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