Vinci Construction will carry out the extension of the Orano uranium enrichment plant

The French fuel cycle specialist Orano "awarded the group composed of Dodin Campenon Bernard (manager) and Campenon Bernard Centre-Est, subsidiaries of VINCI Construction, the civil engineering and structural works package for the extension contract of the Georges Besse 2 North uranium enrichment plant, on the Tricastin site (Drôme)", announced the construction group in a press release.

These civil engineering and structural works for an amount of "several tens of millions of euros" will add "two new sections (...) to the three existing sections already carried out by Vinci Construction around ten years ago" , said the group.

“The work, which will mobilize more than 170 people at peak activity, will begin in the summer of 2024 for 32 months, including 25 months of civil engineering operations with the implementation of 35.000 m3 of concrete, 4.500 t of "reinforcements and 500 anti-seismic studs", detailed Vinci Construction.

With an investment amount of 1,7 billion euros, the extension of the Georges-Besse II plant inaugurated in 2011 on the Tricastin nuclear complex is a crucial project for Orano. Objective: increase its enriched uranium capacities by 30%, in a context where, according to Orano, nuclear operators are seeking greater independence from Russia.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 highlighted the need to depend less on the Russian juggernaut Rosatom for the fuel cycle of nuclear power plants, in France but also in other Western countries such as the United States. .

“With this capacity extension, the uranium produced on the Orano Tricastin site will make it possible to supply the equivalent of 120 million homes per year with low-carbon energy,” explained Orano in October, which is aiming for initial production of the extension in 2028.

The uranium market currently has only four "enriching" players in the world: the Russian Rosatom (43%), the leading exporter, the European group Urenco (31%), the Chinese CNNC which serves its domestic market, and Orano ( 12%).