Dismantling & Decommissioning—How Orano is gaining ground abroad
At the 2018 World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE), Orano is planning to deliver a winning argument for its integrated offer of dismantling services. This offer presents many advantages, ranging from expertise in various regulatory contexts to improving performance. Learn more from Arnaud Gay, Executive Vice-President Technical Department & International Operations.
This unique expertise is the result of 40 years of experience across 160 decommissioning and dismantling projects carried out in many different countries. At the WNE, Orano plans to reaffirm its expertise outside France. Dismantling is a long and precise operation that frequently distracts nuclear operators from their core business. Not only is it an industrial challenge in which performance and safety play a key role, but it’s also a matter of concern for civil society, for whom nuclear remains an energy of the future.
Orano teams attending the exhibition will attempt to meet a dual challenge—to demonstrate and to convince. “To succeed in this task, we plan to rely on our integrated offer,” says Arnaud Gay, Executive Vice-President Technical Department & International Operations. “This offer is perfectly relevant to electric companies with few nuclear facilities or those seeking to focus on their core business, and who therefore need a comprehensive dismantling service.” With a dozen reactors now shut down, the American market packs significant potential for Orano’s dismantling activities.
A unique position in the market
While Orano plans to promote its turnkey offer at the WNE, the French specialist in civil nuclear power also has what it takes to win targeted calls for bids.
“In Germany, we saw two major successes in 2017 and presented winning offers through our capacity to innovate with robotic equipment and semi-automated processes. Our obsession with performance also helped tip the scales in our favor. Orano benefits from a unique position in the market: as an operator, we are also responsible for the dismantling operations we carry out at our own facilities in France. For this reason, we continue to refine our performance plans and we intend to keep this mindset when we export our expertise.”
explains Arnaud Gay.
“We never win alone”
At the WNE, Orano will act as a team player.
We learned that we never win alone. Only through our ability to form partnerships can we gain expertise across every regulatory context in the countries where we operate and learn more about our customers and leads,”
states Arnaud Gay.
In February 2017, Orano and the American demolition company NorthStar created a new jointly owned dismantling company called Accelerated Decommissioning Partners (ADP), which plans to acquire the full and permanent ownership rights of dismantled assets, including irradiated nuclear fuels. This alliance demonstrates Orano’s firm intention to enter high-potential foreign markets.