AREVA: Significant Progress Made in Preparing ATMEA 1 for Certification in Canada

Regulatory News:

Developed jointly by AREVA (Paris:AREVA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), the ATMEA1 reactor has passed the first stage in the pre-certification process carried out by the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), which has validated the objectives and global safety options of the reactor by comparing them with the regulatory requirements for the construction of new nuclear plants. The second and third stages will consist in performing an in-depth analysis of the reactor design in order to ensure that the certification process begins under the best possible conditions.

The third-generation ATMEA1 technology has advanced safety and security systems similar to those of the EPR: resistance to aircraft crashes and earthquakes, the latest-generation instrumentation & control, a core catcher and three independent safety trains. These features meet the most recent international rules and recommendations, including post-Fukushima requirements.

In 2012, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité de sûreté nucléaire - ASN) confirmed that the ATMEA1 reactor met the defined safety criteria for this generation of reactors.

Selected for the Sinop site in Turkey and pre-selected in Jordan, Brazil and Argentina, the ATMEA1 reactor now has good commercial prospects worldwide.

« Safety authorities’ recognition of ATMEA1 safety options proves the relevance of AREVA and MHI’s decisions in this field », declared Claude Jaouen, Senior Executive Vice President of AREVA Reactors & Services Business Group.

MORE ABOUT AREVA
AREVA supplies solutions for power generation with less carbon. Its expertise and unwavering insistence on safety, security, transparency and ethics are setting the standard, and its responsible development is anchored in a process of continuous improvement.
Ranked first in the global nuclear power industry, AREVA’s unique integrated offering to utilities covers every stage of the fuel cycle, nuclear reactor design and construction, and related services. The Group is also expanding its operations to renewable energies – wind, solar, bioenergies, hydrogen and storage – to be one of the leaders in this sector worldwide.
With these two major offers, AREVA’s 47,000 employees are helping to supply ever safer, cleaner and more economical energy to the greatest number of people.

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