Brussels, 07/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has authorised plans for a joint company between the nuclear group Areva and Urenco, which is jointly owned by the German companies RWE and E.ON, the Dutch Ultra-Centrifuge Nederland Limited and the British BNFL. As part of this operation, Areva will take control of Enrichment Technology Company (ETC), which is wholly owned by Urenco. Further to guarantees supplied by both parties, the Commission was able to authorise the operation, and has closed its inquiry, which it opened in June (see EUROPE of 23 June).
ETC is a specialist in the design and production of centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium, a cheaper option which is slowly taking over from gaseous diffusion. Further to the operation, Areva will have access to centrifuge technology, the principle operators of which are Urenco, JNFL (Japan), Minatom/Teex (Russia), and by 2008, USEC (US). On the uranium enrichment market, the inquiry shows that the fact that Areva is a long way behind in this means it cannot affect competition.
If ETC provides both parent companies, Areva and Urenco will nonetheless remain in competition on the downstream enriched uranium market. The Commission's investigation indicated however that the operation may lead to a joint dominant position in the supply of enriched uranium. Areva and Urenco have therefore proposed guarantees, notably to remove their respective right of veto in future increases of enrichment capacity. Furthermore, both companies have agreed for the communication of commercially sensitive information between them and ETC to be restricted by specific measures. Lastly, the Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) will tighten up its controls on the provision and prices of enriched uranium, with the additional information both companies are to provide. The ESA is responsible for the security of supply and imports of enriched uranium in the EU.