Areva

,,We have yet to find out if there will be a Belene NPP. I hope that the procedure will be successful because the project is important for Bulgaria as well as for the whole region.'' This was announced by Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova in the studio of "This morning".

According to the Ministry of Energy, three companies want to invest in the plant - the Chinese nuclear corporation, the Korean Hydroatomic Corporation and the French Company ''Areva''.

Once launched, the procedure for the selection of a strategic investor for the Belene NPP project should be completed within a year, Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova told the Parliament, quoted by Focus News Agency.

A government-led rescue of French nuclear group Areva and the wider atomic energy industry may cost the state as much as 10 billion euros, but political support is almost certain whoever wins the presidential election in May. 

Russian nuclear group Rosatom would be interested in taking an equity stake in French peer Areva if the French government allows it, a top Rosatom executive said on Dec. 27.

The Black Sea region has not been able to recover from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster trauma that occurred 30 years ago. I was visiting the Black Sea provinces of Trabzon and Rize on the 30th anniversary of the disaster last week.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd would consider investing in nuclear company Areva , which is being bailed out by the French government, the president of the Japanese company told the Asahi newspaper.

?We will no doubt be consulted (by Areva). Because of our long relationship and, if cooperation is sought, we would consider it seriously,? Shunichi Miyanaga said in an interview.

Loss-making French state-controlled nuclear group Areva plans to axe as many as 6,000 jobs, about 14 percent of its headcount, as it seeks to reduce labor costs by about 15 percent in France and 18 percent in total internationally.

Parliament?s General Assembly accepted in the early hours of April 1 an international agreement between Turkey and Japan for the construction of Turkey?s second planned nuclear plant.
 
With the approval, the legal framework for the construction of the plant has been laid. 

Nuclear manufacturer Areva has announced a 4.8 billion euro loss for 2014, more than its entire market value, plunging the powerful French nuclear industry into turmoil.
     
The French government said on March 4 it's working closely with Areva to restructure and secure financing, and would "take its responsibility as a shareholder" in future decisions about its direction.