Areva to maintain Brazilian nuclear plants

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 18 (UPI) -- French nuclear engineering group Areva has been awarded six contracts in Brazil.

The nuclear major received nearly $90 million from Brazilian utility Eletronuclear to carry out extensive service on the Angra-1 and Angra-2 nuclear power plants in Angra dos Reis in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.

The work is expected to take three to five years to complete, and Areva will complete maintenance and service on the reactors.

Within the framework of these orders, Areva is expected to implement its integrated service concept not only during plant outages but also during operation. Areva's comprehensive offer is expected to lower operating costs for Eletronuclear while enhancing the reliability of its plants.

The group already provides services for both Angra plants and, together with Eletronuclear, has been performing the yearly maintenance outages for Angra-2 since its connection to the grid in 2001.