Kurion and AREVA Form DOE Cleanup Partnership

Kurion and AREVA announced yesterday a joint partnership to provide decommissioning and remediation services that focus on serving the Department of Energy cleanup complex. The companies said that the initial emphasis of the alliance will center on cleanup and closure work at the Hanford site in Washington, but they indicated that it could expand to decommissioning of other nuclear facilities and other cleanup projects as well. “Through this partnership, we will strengthen our offering in the growing U.S. decommissioning market,” AREVA CEO Gary Mignogna said in a statement. “The unique combination of our companies’ expertise, knowledge and technology will create innovative and economical solutions to best meet our customers’ needs.”

 

Kurion and AREVA are looking to expand their role and make a larger impact within the complex than they currently serve. AREVA, though, did win early last year a $19 million subcontract for cleanup of the 324 Building in the Hanford 300 Area that deals with the cleanup of cesium and strontium contaminated soil. This subcontract could represent the first area of collaboration between the two companies as Kurion has previously leveraged its technology-portfolio to help in the removal of those two contaminants within groundwater at the Fukushima Daiichi cleanup in Japan. “AREVA has long been a global leader in nuclear waste processing services. With Kurion’s proprietary technologies in robotics, waste separation and stabilization, a joint AREVA-Kurion team will be capable of solving nearly any nuclear waste management challenge,” Kurion President Jacques Besnainou said in a statement.