OREANDA-NEWS. On June 11 CEO of Areva (France) Anne Lauvergeon and President of Kazatomprom (Kazakhstan) Mukhtar Jakishev signed an agreement for establishment of a joint venture.

The KATCO group, with 51% owned by Areva, 49% by Kazatomprom, will produce 4,000 tons of uranium a year until 2039 with the sales to be made entirely by Areva.

Note

AREVA is a French public multinational industrial conglomerate that deals in energy, especially nuclear power. It was created on 3 September, 2001, by the merger of Framatome and Cogema (now AREVA NC). Its main shareholder is the French owned company CEA, but the German company Siemens also retains 34% of the shares of AREVA’s subsidiary, AREVA NP, in charge of building the European Pressurized Reactor.

AREVA is the world-leading company in nuclear energy. It is the only company with a presence in each industrial activity linked to nuclear energy: mining, chemistry, enrichment, combustibles, services, engineering, nuclear propulsion and reactors, treatment, recycling, stabilization, and dismantling. AREVA also claims to offer technological solutions for CO2 free energy; and produces earth leakage circuit breaker technologies.

National Atomic Company “Kazatomprom” is a national operator of the Republic of Kazakhstan for import and export of uranium and other double-use materials. 100% of shares of the company are owned by the state in the person of Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Diversified activity of the company includes:
exploration work;
mining of natural uranium at south mining departments;
production of uranium products;
production of beryllium products;
production of tantalum, niobium products and hydrofluoric acid;
generation of electric and thermal power and water;
scientific, technical, technological and environment issues;
training of skilled manpower for enterprises of the industry.

Today over 19,000 people are employed in the company. Total annual turnover is over US\\$300 mn.