Eurodif, which means ''European Gaseous Diffusion Uranium Enrichment Consortium'', is a subsidiary of the French company

Orano Orano SA is a multinational nuclear fuel cycle company headquartered in Châtillon, Hauts-de-Seine, France. The company is engaged in uranium mining, conversion-enrichment, spent fuel recycling, nuclear logistics, dismantling, and nuclear cy ...

, which operates a

uranium enrichment Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238 ...

plant established at the Tricastin Nuclear Power Center in

Pierrelatte Pierrelatte (; oc, Pèiralata) is a Communes of France, commune in the Drôme Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Since the 1980s it hosts one of the biggest production plants of the enriched uranium existing in the world, u ...

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

. The nuclear site of Pierrelatte includes many nuclear installations, of which the largest are the Eurodif fuel factory and the Tricastin

nuclear power station A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ele ...

Enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (238U ...

is the preferred fuel for

light water reactor The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron react ...

s, a common

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...

technology.

History

In 1973

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and Sweden formed the joint stock company EURODIF. Sweden withdrew from the project in 1974. In 1975 Sweden's 10 per cent share in EURODIF was transferred to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

as a result of an arrangement between France and Iran. The French government subsidiary company Cogema and the Iranian Government established the Sofidif () enterprise with 60 per cent and 40 per cent shares, respectively. In turn, Sofidif acquired a 25 per cent share in EURODIF, through which Iran attained its 10 per cent share of EURODIF. In 1974, the

Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...

, Shah of

, lent $1 billion (and another $180 million in 1977) for the construction of the factory, in order to have the right to buy 10% of the production. Iran remains a shareholder of Eurodif via Sofidif. The Franco-Iranian consortium shareholder still owns 25% of Eurodif. The factory, named after

Georges Besse Georges Besse (25 December 1927 – 17 November 1986) was a French businessman who led several large state-controlled French companies. He was assassinated outside his Paris home by the terrorist group Action directe. At the time of his death he ...

, its founder, provides uranium to forty producers of nuclear electricity, including EDF, France's largest electric power company. Naturally occurring

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

contains 0.7% of

uranium 235 Uranium-235 (235U or U-235) is an isotope of uranium making up about 0.72% of natural uranium. Unlike the predominant isotope uranium-238, it is fissile, i.e., it can sustain a nuclear chain reaction. It is the only fissile isotope that exists ...

. It can be enriched up to 5% by a gas diffusion process using

uranium hexafluoride Uranium hexafluoride (), (sometimes called "hex") is an inorganic compound with the formula UF6. Uranium hexafluoride is a volatile white solid that reacts with water, releasing corrosive hydrofluoric acid. The compound reacts mildly with alumin ...

(UF₆). France decided to abandon the gas diffusion process used by the Eurodif Georges Besse I factory for a centrifuge process. The project announced by

Areva NC Orano Cycle, formerly COGEMA (''Compagnie générale des matières nucléaires'') and Areva NC, is a French nuclear company. It is the main subsidiary of Orano S.A. It is an industrial group active in all stages of the uranium fuel cycle, inclu ...

to make the change was the subject of a public discussion in the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...

region from September 1 to October 22, 2004. The advantage of the new process is that it is more energy efficient: Georges Besse I used the power generated by all three (2,700 MW) of Tricastin's nuclear reactors for uranium enrichment, whereas the new centrifuge-based Georges Besse II plant can make similar amounts of uranium with only 50 MW. Dismantling the original Eurodif facility is planned to be completed by the end of 2020.

References

{{Nuclear power in France Nuclear power companies of France Nuclear fuel companies Nuclear technology in France