CHERBOURG, France, April 29, 2002 (ENS) - Advanced French technology for decontaminating nuclear facilities is being transferred to China under a technical assistance agreement signed last week.

STMI, a subsidiary of the French company Cogema, signed the nuclear cleanup technology transfer agreement with the China Institute for Radiation Protection in Beijing on April 22. China will use the processes in Chinese nuclear power reactors and fuel cycle plants.

Decontamination cell in the R2 high-level separations facility, Cogema-La Hague reprocessing plant (Photos courtesy Cogema)

STMI will transfer to the Institute the technology to manufacture in China the products and equipment for decontaminating its nuclear facilities.

The French company will provide technical assistance and training for experts from the Institute both in China and at its Triade facility in France.

Cogema said both partners consider the agreement to be a first step toward both a larger implementation of advanced STMI technologies in China and an expansion of the two companies' cooperation to the entire nuclear cleanup area.

Cogema technician decontaminates radioactive materials by remote control

Ling'ao is the second largest commercial nuclear power plant to be built in Guangdong, following the one on Daya Bay. The first generator at Ling'ao is expected to begin power generation in July 2002 and the second in March 2003.

Cogema specializes in the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining, conversion and enrichment to spent fuel reprocessing and recycling. The Cogema Group, which includes STMI and Polinorsud, is a subsidiary of the Areva holding company formed September 3, 2001 under the French Atomic Energy Commission.

Polinorsud and Hua Xing expect additional contracts will be signed this year related to supplying logistics for China's first nuclear power plant, the Guangdong Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station near Shenzhen. Located on the coast of Daya Bay, the power plant became operational in 1994. It was manufactured by the French company Framatome, another Areva subsidiary.

Currently four nuclear power projects are being built in China. The second and third phases of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant in east China's Zhejiang Province are under construction, and the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, a Sino-Russian joint venture, is taking shape at Lianyungang on China's east coast.