Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility - ICIE's Saturday Summary 2/28/09

On Wednesday, Areva Enrichment Services presented an overview of the proposed Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility for Bonneville County to the House Energy, Environment and Technology Committee. Industry representatives say public input for this project has been “unanimously” positive. Of the more than 350 people who attended a recent public meeting on the project, all were supportive, although both Chairman Raybould and Areva have received letters of protest from the Snake River Alliance. The proposed site is a half mile east of the eastern border of the Idaho National Laboratory.

The license application will be up for public review and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will perform a level one environmental impact study, which will take 24 to 36 months, followed by a five year construction process for the complete facility, during which time the plant will be partially operational after the first two years.

Areva’s representative assured the committee that they are still pursuing this timeline despite the economy. During the construction phase of the project, the company projects 1,000 new jobs, with 400 new jobs related to the operation of the facility at an average salary of $66,000 per year.

Areva provides services, equipment and technology for the nuclear services industry. It is the number one reactor builder in the world and number three in electricity transmission and distribution. In addition to the Eagle Rock Facility, the company is looking into wind and biomass generator projects in Northern Idaho. The company presented a video outlining the development of the Goreges Besse enrichment plant in France. The Idaho Falls plant will provide enrichment services to US nuclear plant operators using what Areva representatives note is advanced centrifuge technology which has been successfully deployed in Europe for more than thirty years, and uses 50 times less electricity than a gaseous diffusion process.