AREVA Team Awarded Savannah River Site Liquid Waste Operations Contract

Press release

December 11, 2008

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a contract to Savannah River Remediation LLC, to which AREVA is a dedicated subcontractor, to manage the treatment and disposal of radioactive liquid wastes at the DOE Savannah River Site in South Carolina.

The contract is for a period of six years with a two year option and has a total contract value of $3.3 billion. The contract includes the vitrification of high-level radioactive waste, treatment of other radioactive waste streams, closure of 49 underground storage tanks, and deactivation of major facilities and equipment. Vitrification involves freezing of radioactive waste in glass logs, a form well suited for the long-term storage and disposal of such materials.

The project objective is to treat the tank wastes and dispose of all wastes onsite in approved locations or offsite at controlled facilities and possibly the repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev.  The contract also includes management of other radioactive liquid waste generated at the site.

“We are excited that Savannah River Remediation has been chosen to continue DOE’s environmental management mission at Savannah River to treat, store and dispose of radioactive waste.  AREVA brings to the project technologies and technical approaches that will aid high-level radioactive waste processing, tank cleaning, leading to successful closure,” said Jacques Besnainou, President of AREVA Inc.

Savannah River Remediation LLC is a partnership consisting of AREVA; URS Washington Division; Babcock & Wilcox Technical Services Group, Inc.; Bechtel National, Inc.; CH2M Hill Constructors, Inc.