A uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls will be one of the largest construction projects in the state's history, and it could create 1,000 jobs for the five years it takes to complete it.
Construction on Areva Inc.'s $2 billion facility could begin as early as 2011, once the French-backed company obtains a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The facility, which was announced Tuesday, would produce fuel for nuclear power plants. Operating the plant could employ 250 highly paid workers as early as 2014.
Areva came to Idaho after the Legislature capped the company's property tax value at $400 million and eliminated sales tax on its equipment. Areva selected Idaho over sites in Washington state, Ohio, Texas and New Mexico.
The nuclear power industry was born at the Idaho National Laboratory in the early 1950s, and since then, Idaho has housed nuclear facilities for the Navy and the Department of Energy.
"Areva is a natural fit for Idaho because both are world leaders in nuclear research and technology," Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo said. "Today's announcement is a credit to the Idaho National Laboratory personnel whose proven record of hard work, dedication and skill opened the door to landing this facility."
The incentives - along with the highly skilled work force in eastern Idaho - were the deciding factors, said Sam Shakir, Areva's general manager for enrichment.
Not everyone in Idaho is pleased with the announcement. Snake River Alliance Executive Director Andrea Shipley said her group, long a critic of nuclear power, will oppose it.
"We oppose expanding uranium enrichment wherever it occurs," Shipley said. "It is premised on expanding nuclear power, which is an expensive and dirty power source."
Shipley's main concern is the depleted hexafluoride uranium left over after the enrichment process. This slightly radioactive solid chemical waste, if exposed to moisture, releases highly corrosive gas that can damage kidneys and lungs.
But Michael McMurphy, Areva's president, said the process is safe. "It's not a very dangerous facility," he said.
Though the nuclear industry started in Idaho, France and Japan have surpassed the United States as the technology leaders. Accidents at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979 and at Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986 stopped utilities from ordering new reactors - until recently. Now there are more than two dozen plants on the drawing board, mostly next to existing facilities.
Just one aging enrichment plant exists in the United States - but another is already under construction in New Mexico. A third is planned in Ohio.
Areva's Idaho plant could play a large role in the revival of the industry.
"With this plant, Areva is positioned to gain a quarter of the U.S. market by the middle of the next decade," said Dan Yurman, a nuclear industry blogger from Idaho Falls.
Areva is not limited to nuclear energy development, said McMurphy. It also builds wind, solar and other renewable energy facilities. The company has $2 billion in revenues from the United States and 5,300 U.S. employees.
"The United States needs more clean energy to support its economic growth," McMurphy said. "To enable us to meet those needs we have to expand our domestic nuclear infrastructure, secure our supply of enrichment services, and reduce our reliance on foreign imports. This new enrichment plant is a critical part of that process."
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