Areva, 2 year delay and massive cost increases on Olkiluoto 3 - Half Year profits rise

Greenpeace have been sniping at French nuclear group Areva (see postFriday, August 15, 2008
Greenpeace and the Magic Documents - How they are mongering scares and totally missing the point about nuclear power - it's too expensive chuck ) and their problems in building the world's first, next-generation pressurised water reactor , the Finnish Olkiluoto 3.

The cost of construction at Olkiluoto has risen from 3 to 4.5 billion euros (US$ 6.7 Bn.), and Areva admits the need to boost staff levels "ensure work proceeds better."

Finnish nuclear safety agency STUK launched a probe earlier this month into whether safety procedures were respected at the site after Greenpeace disclosed confidential documents indicating there were no qualified personnel supervising the welding and that the quality of the welding had not been verified.

Areva has been forced to set aside one billion euro in provisions to absorb the rise in costs, the French business newspaper Echo eports as Areva nnounce record profits of nearly 750 million euros today.

Construction delays have already forced Areva to push back the target date for the reactor to enter service to 2011 from 2009.


Should therefore EDF get into bed with British Energy (improbably incredibly John Hutton Minister of some crazy name thinks a deal is still possible), this news must impact upon the whole flawed energy planning of the UK and the forecast costs of plants and the electricity produced.

Areva produced half year results today

These show that Profits were up 14.8% and operating margin up from 3.9% to 8.7% with EPS up from 8.31 Euros to 21.45 Euros.

The Order backlog has risen 13.6% to 38.5Bn Euros

IFA 2000 - strategic link at the heart of the European electricity market.

It is of interest of course that part of that backlog includes the announcement in July that AREVA's Transmission and Distribution Division has been awarded a contract with the UK National Grid and RTE, to enhance the reliability and reinforce availability of IFA 2000, the world's largest subsea High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) scheme opened in 1986 which can supply electricity for 3 Mn. people.

This subsea system interconnects the French and British national power systems from Mandarins near Calais, to Sellindge in Kent and enables France to sell us electricity from the French nuclear powered grid.

AREVA will replace the existing high-voltage converter equipment and the control and cooling system, implementing its H-400 HVDC Thyristor valves and Series V control system. Learn more hereabout this critical system and Europe's closely linked electricity network.