French company to open U.S. nuclear fuel plant

PARIS (AP) -- French nuclear manufacturer Areva says a subsidiary has signed a $2.7 billion (euro1.72 billion) deal with the U.S. Depar

PARIS (AP) -- French nuclear manufacturer Areva says a subsidiary has signed a $2.7 billion (euro1.72 billion) deal with the U.S. Department of Energy to build and operate a nuclear fuel production facility in South Carolina.

Shaw Areva MOX Services has signed the deal to build a plant at the Savannah River site near Aiken, South Carolina.

The plant will mix leftover weapons-grade plutonium with uranium oxide to make fuel pellets called MOX, or mixed-oxide, for commercial nuclear reactors.

Areva already makes MOX fuel at a facility in France. It announced the deal Friday.

Through the agreement, the Department of Energy is exercising the construction options included in a contract signed in 1999.