AREVA has joined the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) as operator of La Hague nuclear fuel recycling facility in France.
WANO’s Governing Board gathered at the organisation’s Paris Centre on 25 July to approve AREVA’s Category 1 membership and welcomed Luc Oursel, AREVA CEO, who signed WANO’s charter.
“Safety has always been AREVA’s top priority. It is therefore natural for the group, as a nuclear site operator, to be part of WANO. We are committed to guaranteeing the optimum safety of our own industrial facilities and to contributing to the highest level of nuclear safety performance worldwide,” said Oursel.
“After Fukushima, it became clear that WANO is to become a major cornerstone for strengthening safety and that AREVA should become part of the association. We are ready to share our expertise in safety with the other members, and we look forward to benefiting from regular peer reviews by WANO experts and from WANO members’ decades of operating experience,” he continued.
Category 1 members are operating companies, plant owners or organisations that have been authorised by one or more nuclear power plants or reprocessing facilities to represent them within WANO. They have voting rights in WANO General Meetings.
Two Category 2 members have also joined WANO, it announced 25 July. Category 2 members are operating companies that have chosen to be represented by another member within WANO.
The new members are: Yangjiang Nuclear Power Co., Ltd (YJNP), representing three units under construction at the Yangjiang Nuclear Power Site; and Guangxi Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Co., Ltd (FCGNP), representing two units under construction at the Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Site. Both companies will be represented by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company.
