Eurodif, which means European Gaseous Diffusion Uranium Enrichment Consortium, is a subsidiary company of French company Cogéma which exploits a uranium enrichment plant established in the nuclear site of Tricastin in Pierrelatte in Drôme. The nuclear site of Pierrelatte includes many nuclear installations of which most imposing are the nuclear thermal power station of Tricastin and the Eurodif fuel factory. A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organisations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal. ... Cogema (Compagnie générale des matières nucléaires), a French company created in 1976 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the AREVA group, is an industrial group active in uranium mining, conversion and enrichment through spent fuel reprocessing and recycling. ... Enriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. ... Pierrelatte is a commune of the Drôme département in southern France. ... Drôme is a département in southeastern France named after the Drôme River. ...

Enriched uranium is the preferred fuel for light water reactors, a common nuclear power technology. // Enriched uranium is uranium whose uranium-235 content has been increased through the process of isotope separation. ... A light water reactor or LWR is a thermal nuclear reactor that uses ordinary water (as opposed to heavy water) as its neutron moderator. ... A nuclear power station. ...

History

In 1973 France, Belgium, Spain and Sweden formed the joint stock company EURODIF. Sweden withdrew from the project in 1974. In 1975 Sweden’s 10 per cent share in EURODIF went to Iran as a result of an arrangement between France and Iran. The French government subsidiary company Cogema and the Iranian Government established the Sofidif (Société franco–iranienne pour l’enrichissement de l’uranium par diffusion gazeuse) enterprise with 60 per cent and 40 per cent shares, respectively. In turn, Sofidif acquired a 25 per cent share in EURODIF, which gave Iran its 10 per cent share of EURODIF. A joint stock company is a type of business partnership in which the capital is formed by the individual contributions of a group of shareholders. ...

In 1974, the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi lent 1 billion dollars (and another 180 million dollars in 1977) for the construction of the factory, to have the right to buy 10% of the production. After the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran's government suspended its payments and attempted to obtain a refund for the loan by pressuring France by handling terrorist groups. Finally an agreement was reached in 1991: France refunded more than 1,6 billion dollars. Iran remains a shareholder of Eurodif via Sofidif, a Franco-Iranian consortium shareholder which owns 25 % of Eurodif. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... His Majesty Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (اعلیحضرت محمدرضا شاه پهلوی; October 26, 1919 – July 27, 1980) also knows as Aryamehr, was the last Shah of Iran, ruling from 1941 until... For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... Protestors take to the street in support of Ayatollah Khomeini. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ...

The factory, named after Georges Besse, provides forty producers of electricity in the world, including EDF, France's largest electric power company. Georges Besse (born December 25, 1927 in Clermont-Ferrand, France, died November 17, 1986) was a French businessman who led several large state-controlled French companies during his lifetime. ... Électricité de France (EDF) is the main electricity generation and distribution company in France. ...

Naturally occurring Uranium, contains 0.7% of Uranium 235. Currently, it is enriched up to 5% by a gas diffusion process using uranium hexafluoride (UF6). However, France will abandon the gas diffusion process currently used by the Eurodif factory for a process by centrifugation. The project announced by Areva to make the change, was the subject of a public discussion in the Rhône-Alpes region from September 1 to October 22, 2004. The advantage of this new process is the lesser consumption of energy: Eurodif currently uses the power generated by all three of Tricastin's nuclear reactors, whereas the centrifuge-based plant could make similar amounts of uranium with only 50 MW. General Name, Symbol, Number uranium, U, 92 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery gray metallic; corrodes to a spalling black oxide coat in air Atomic mass 238. ... Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium that differs from the elements other common isotope, uranium-238, by its ability to cause a rapidly expanding fission chain reaction, i. ... Uranium hexafluoride, or UF6, is a compound used in the uranium enrichment process that produces fuel for nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. ... AREVA (Euronext: CEI) is a France-based multinational industrial conglomerate that deals in energy, especially in nuclear power. ... Location Administration Capital Lyon Regional President Jean-Jack Queyranne (PS) (since 2004) Départements Ain Ardèche Drôme Isère Loire Rhône Savoie Haute-Savoie Arrondissements 25 Cantons 335 Communes 2,879 Statistics Land area1 43,698 km² Population (Ranked 2nd)  - January 1, 2005 est. ...

The estimated schedule, which plans for the first output of the George Besse II plant at the end of 2007, seems to be facing some delay because of safety studies concerning the risk of seismic activity, criticality in the fuel enrichment process, and the risk of a plane-based terrorist attack; these were mandated by the nuclear safety authority. Nuclear safety is a term which underscores and understates the danger implicit in the use of nuclear materials, and may be used to describe measures taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents. ...

Dismantling the original Eurodif facility is planned to be completed by the end of 2020. Decommissioning nuclear plants includes all clean-up of radioactivity and progressive demolition of the plant. ... 2020 (MMXX) will be a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...