Decision would allow industry to plan investment in enrichment capacity, says Orano executive
The European Union must decide whether to end imports of Russian nuclear fuel services if it wants Western companies to invest in alternative conversion and enrichment capacity, a senior executive from French nuclear fuel cycle company Orano has said.
Jacques Peythieu, senior executive vice-president for customer and strategy and a member of Orano’s executive committee, told the nucleareurope 2026 conference in Brussels that the technology to carry out conversion and enrichment in the West already exists.
“There’s no doubt about that. But we need a clear policy,” he said.
After the invasion of Ukraine the US voted for a ban on Russian imports, Peythieu said, while the EU response “so far… it’s very elusive. No decision from Europe regarding Russian imports.”
Peythieu said a decision mattered “because it will give visibility to the industry to plan the investment”.
He suggested the EU could introduce a quota system to support European supply and said Orano had been able to expand enrichment capacity in France only because it had first secured long-term contracts from US customers.
Asked about a global pledge to substantially increase nuclear power capacity, he said doubling the front end of the fuel cycle, including mining, conversion and enrichment, would require around €100bn ($116bn) of investment, but this would dependent on fair competition and long-term customer contracts.
The front end was “not on the critical path” because expanding fuel facilities took less time than building reactors, but contracts still had to be finalised.
He advised nuclear newcomers not to “wait until the last minute to contract”, warning that conversion and enrichment capacity for this decade could already be sold out.
