Balfour pairs up with Areva for major chunk of nuclear new build

Balfour Beatty has announced a partnership with Areva. The pair are hunting for a chunk of the fleet of EPR nuclear reactors that are to be built in the UK.

The first step is for the Balfour/Areva pair to list the skills and resources required to deliver the string of EPRs and to put an effective supply chain in place. 

It is estimated that the nuclear programme could sustain between 10-15,000 jobs over a 25-year period.

The total value of the UK’s new build nuclear programme runs to £40bn. Up to 10 power stations are planned, each offering construction packages of £600m. Balfour and Laing O’Rourke are leading the charge for the biggest chunks of the action.

One tier down, Costain, Morgan Est and Robert McAlpine are busily eyeing potential joint venture construction partners.

Site construction of the first EPR could start as early as 2013.  The Energy White Paper in 2007 first set out the UK Government's in-principle support for a programme of new nuclear power stations in the UK.

Mike O'Brien, Minister at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, said: “This represents a vote of confidence by Areva in the UK new nuclear market and a vote of confidence in the UK supply chain.”

O’Brien added that it opens up “enormous potential for UK plc at home and globally.”

Areva has built 90 nuclear reactors globally.

The French group has a Reactors and Services Division which has an annual turnover of £2bn, a sum that accounts for 23% of the Areva group’s total turnover.

The division has 16,500 employees.

The strategic priorities of the Areva reactors division include:

• broaden the reactor offering by drawing on industrial partners;
• strengthen engineering capabilities and secure the supply chain;
• offer customers integrated services that optimise their fleet operations;
• support R&D efforts on new generations of rectors.

The Areva reactors division is involved in the design and construction of light water nuclear reactors, the PWR and the BWR as well as the EPR-type reactors.