Areva opens Idaho Falls office, appoints key execs 

French-owned energy giant Areva said on March 2 that it has opened an office in Idaho Falls for its subsidiary, Areva Enrichment Services LLC, and appointed three executives who will oversee construction of the multi-billion dollar Eagle Rock enrichment plant.

The company named past Areva vice president of Environmental Affairs & Sustainable Development Robert Poyser as its vice president of Idaho Falls Operations; former Eagle Rock Technical Director George Harper as vice president of Engineering; and government relations veteran and former Congressional staffer Michael French as senior policy adviser.

Areva spokesman Jarret Adams said staff at the Idaho Falls office will initially number about six, but as the project moves forward and construction begins the company plans to grow its presence considerably.

“Once construction begins – if the decision comes back favorably from the NRC – peak construction will involve about 1,000 [workers],” Adams said. “So as we move forward that office will get much larger.”

The project is moving forward, and ahead of schedule, said Sam Shakir, president of Areva Enrichment Services. Areva’s application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was filed in December 2008, three months earlier than expected, and the company is speeding work on design, procurement and construction planning while the application is reviewed.

“We are committed to this project and are accelerating our planning and design activities to ensure we bring this world class facility on line in a timely manner with minimum risk to the nuclear energy industry that is counting on Eagle Rock and its proven technology to deliver critical supply of enrichment services," Shakir said in a release from the company.

Company officials and Idaho Falls area planners have pegged their hopes on the $2 billion Eagle Rock facility as a boon to the region’s economy amid continued disorder in world financial markets. The project is expected to bring as much as $5 billion in economic activity, according to a study by the Regional Development Alliance of Idaho Falls, and create about 5,000 direct and indirect jobs during construction.

But Areva has also been affected by the economic downturn. Frozen capital markets make it difficult to raise the enormous sums required for nuclear energy projects, and Areva has petitioned the Department of Energy for federal guarantees on $2 billion in loans to finance Eagle Rock.

Adams said it’s unclear when the DOE may hand down a decision on the loan guarantee application, but the company is optimistic about newly-appointed U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s call to “start printing checks” for programs that support large-scale renewable and nuclear energy projects.

“We’re extremely encouraged. The fact that the secretary has made a point of moving the loan guarantee program forward… might signal that there might be some movement on this over the coming months,” Adams said. “But beyond that it’s anybody’s guess.”

Ground could be broken on the Eagle Rock facility as early as 2011, with operations commencing in 2014.

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