Governor Otter Says Areva’s Idaho Nuke Facility is Moving Forward

Idaho Governor Butch Otter says mid-day headlines (here, here and here) about Areva suspending its Idaho uranium enrichment plant aren’t true.

“The assurances that I got from the folks over there when I called them, said that’s not the case, that the headline is totally misleading,” Otter says.  “The enrichment project is going forward…in fact it’s fully funded through 2012.”

But the CEO of the French energy company announced this morning its uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls is on hold.  The press release doesn’t mention Idaho’s Eagle Rock facility, but this slide show presentation does, specifically slide 45:

Slide #45 from Areva's Strategic Action Plan

Areva CEO Luc Oursel says the company has been hit by financial problems that will affect the Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility and others worldwide.  But Areva officials in the U.S. say something different.Michael French is a spokesman for Eagle Rock.  “There’s no hold on the project,” he says.  “There could be some impact depending on the timing of beginning of construction, but beyond that the project will move forward.”  French adds there are some “significant” capital requirement issues the company must deal with, but design work and pre-construction planning on Eagle Rock continues.  The project received a license two months ago from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.