Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Areva have announced the name of their companies’ newly formed joint venture Atmea, which will develop, market, license and sell Atmea 1, a new 1100MWe reactor combining technologies from both companies.

The Atmea 1 is to be a PWR and the partners are jointly working to have the reactor ready for a licensing application in less than three years.

“By founding Atmea, we combine the experience of two leaders in reactor development, construction, licensing and marketing. We thus provide the ideal framework for the development and sale of a reactor whose size fits into almost every grid,” stated Areva chief Anne Lauvergeon.

Since October 2006, the two firms have been working together to define the conceptual basis for an advanced Generation III reactor with power around 1100MWe.