The Medusa

Adieu at last to Areva's "Atomic Anne"

2011-06-18T02:09:16Z

Anne Lauvergeon has been ousted as the CEO of Areva, the mostly government-owned French energy corporation. Lauvergeon was bounced before the conclusion of her term and replaced by Luc Oursel, Areva’s head of marketing and projects. Under Lauvergeon Areva was plagued by construction delays and cost overruns on a nuclear plant in Finland, as well as spats with Electricite de France, the French state utility. Beyond Nuclear protested the hypocrisy of the selection of Lauvergeon as keynote speaker at a non-proliferation conference in Washington, DC in 2009. Areva is responsible for the proliferation of nuclear technology across the globe, which can lead - and has - to the development of nuclear weapons programs.

Areva halts construction of reactor components plant

2011-06-08T19:17:35Z

Citing unfavorable market conditions, Areva announced that it will indefinitely suspend construction of the Areva Newport News manufacturing facility. The plant was to supply heavy parts like reactor vessels and steam generators for Areva’s U.S. EPR reactor.

Areva backs off African mines and US reactors

2011-06-08T15:37:51Z

Areva may proceed more slowly with spending on African mines and plant construction in the U.S. The decision was designed to mitigate the negative effects on the company's cash flow and debt. Areva fell 93 cents, or 3.4 percent, to 26.27 euros at 1:21 p.m. in Paris. The stock has dropped 28 percent this year.