nuclear-news

Areva announced a loss of $5.3 billion in global income in 2014 from the year prior, resulting in a loss of roughly several hundred employees in the Lynchburg area and a need to consolidate, adopt austerity measures and sell a chunk of its business to Électricité de France, the largest utility in France which is also majority-owned by the French government. The power plant business segment of Areva – which employs most Areva Lynchburg employees and constructs, designs and services nuclear plants – will sell 75 percent of the company to EDF for an injection of equity into the business…….

survival came at a cost: Areva NA introduced an advanced severance package to qualified employees to retire early in addition to cutting 22 jobs in the area last fall. Last year, Areva, one of the biggest employers in the region, reported about 1,800 employees in the area. This year, they have about 1,500, a decrease of about 16 percent. For the North America continent, those numbers are steeper, decreasing roughly 20 percent from 5,000 full-time and part-time employees to “closer to 4,000,” Mignogna said……

“Debt is due now,” Mignogna said. “So the [French] government had to react now and try to work out a deal where we could get some cash inflow to the company and they chose to do that.” The result was the EDF purchase of Areva’s power plant operations, which will be consummated by the end of 2016.

Just how much Areva will be changed through the purchase by EDF is unclear. Mignogna said that due to anti-trust considerations, where Areva will be providing services to EDF’s competitors, the North American portion will be operated at “arm’s length.” But he wasn’t sure if Areva’s name will be changed to EDF as a result……..http://www.newsadvance.com/work_it_lynchburg/news/areva-still-standing-despite-turbulent-times/article_a2d991c0-4197-5c04-a163-e7ba145cfea1.html