OREANDA-NEWS. On October 19, 2007 a group of representatives of Electricite de France have visited Angarsk Electrolytic Chemical Combine in the framework of the existing contracts between EDF and Techsnabexport (Tenex), reported the press-centre of AECC.  

A group of representatives of Electricite de France (EDF), the world’s leading producer of nuclear energy, have visited Angarsk Electrolytic Chemical Combine (AECC) in the framework of the existing contracts between EDF and Techsnabexport (Tenex).

On Oct 2–4 2007 the French partners inspected the plant to see if its services complied with the requirements of the French legislation and the terms of the existing EDF-Tenex contracts. Particularly, they inspected the plant’s quality management and environment protection systems. The guests wanted to see if AECC met the contractual terms for analysis of nuclear materials and radiation control of containers before unloading. For this purpose they visited the plant’s central laboratory.

The French partners were glad to see that AECC had highly efficient chemical and radiation control systems. They pointed out the efficiency of the personnel, the high quality of end product analysis and uranium hexafluoride  enrichment and made a few recommendations on how to further improve the plant’s performance and to meet the terms of the existing contracts.
 
Technical Director of AECC Sergey Koshelev thanked the French partners for their recommendations. “We are always glad to welcome the people who help us to improve our work,” he said. The French experts will present their findings in a detailed report, which will certainly help the Angarsk specialists to improve their performance and to enhance the quality of their products and services. The head of the French delegation Thierry Deschaux said that the key objective of the inspection was to help AECC to meet the terms of the existing contracts so as to be able to supply French nuclear companies with uranium products without additional certifications and examinations.

The French partners said that they were going to develop their dialogue with AECC in the framework of their contracts with Tenex.

The senior procurement manager of EDF Uranium Conversion Enrichment Department Thierry Deschaux have told us about the results of the visit:

Q: What  are your impressions?
A: Our expectations have been justified. You have done huge preparatory work. Your personnel are really professional and you have the spirit of openness.

Q: What do you mean by “the spirit of openness”?
A: You have answered all of our questions. The results of the inspection are quite positive and now we know that you have high quality products. We have a couple of remarks but they are aimed at further improvement. 

Q: What is the share of nuclear energy in the total electricity production in France?
A: It is over 80%. That’s why our contracts with Tenex are very important. They cover quite a big part of our enrichment demands. And AECC may also have a big share therein.

Q: What is the attitude of French society towards nuclear energy?
A: Most of our people support the development of nuclear energy but we are an exception in Europe yet. Our nuclear power plants are very safe and we are absolutely open and transparent . We inform our people about everything we do at our plants. Your work style is also a good way to gain the benevolence of your society.

Q: Do you mean the reopened Museum of Labor Glory?
A: Yes, and also the Information Center of Rosatom.

Q: How much open are nuclear companies in France?
A: Of course, there are certain rules. We control the access to our nuclear companies and plants. As a matter of principle, any person can see a nuclear system if he has a relevant permission.

Electricite de France is one of the biggest power generating companies in Europe. It operates 19 nuclear power plants with 58 units with a total capacity of 65mln KW. The plants produce almost half of Europe’s electricity. The company also has thermal, wind and water power plants and transmission and distribution networks.