France’s Orano has laid the foundation stone of the Georges Besse-II (GB-II) enrichment plant extension project at the Tricastin site (Drôme and Vaucluse). The ceremony was attended by Claude Imauven, Chairman of Orano’s Board of Directors; Nicolas Maes, Orano’s CEO; François Lurin, Orano Senior Executive Vice President Chemistry-Enrichment; as well as clients and many local elected officials and economic stakeholders in the region. Orano’s Board approved the extension in October 2023.
With a projected investment of €1.7bn ($1.86m) the extension will enable Orano to increase its production capacities by more than 30%, or 2.5m separative work units (SWU). The extension will see construction of a further four modules identical to the fourteen already in operation. They will use the same established centrifuge technology but with a reduced environmental footprint.
During the construction phase, the project will mobilise up to 1,000 people, mainly from companies based in the region. “This expansion of capacity will meet the needs of our utility customers for improved security of supply, with initial productive operations predicted for 2028 and complete commissioning in 2030,” Orano noted.
Orano CEO Nicolas Maes said: “The project which is taking shape here today is one of the five most important industrial projects underway in France today. It is an important step in Orano’s development. Thanks to this expansion of our capacity, we will strengthen the supply chain of our utility customers and in particular, for many of them, make them less sensitive to geopolitical risks.”
The GB-II gas centrifuge enrichment plant, which replaced the ageing Georges Besse I gaseous diffusion enrichment plant, was opened in December 2010 and began commercial operation in April 2011. In October 2022, Orano said it had decided to increase its production capacity by 30%, which could involve an extension of the GB-II plant. The National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP – Commission Nationale du Débat Public) then announced that it was relaunching a consultation on GB-II expansion. The cost of the project was then estimated at €1.3bn. Construction of GB-II, had previously been the subject of a public debate in 2004, which considered increasing the plant’s capacities from the planned 7.5m to 11m SWU. Currently GB-II is running at full capacity producing 7.5m SWU.
