EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA

摘要

Nuclear group Areva's societe d'enrichissement du tricastin has agreed a €650m 10-year limited recourse loan backing the Georges Besse 2 uranium enrichment plant in Tricastin in the southwest of France. The financing is being provided by a group of ten international banks: BBVA, Bank ofTokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole CIB, Credit Industriel et Commercial, HSBC, HVB-Unicredit, Natixis, Santander and Societe Generale. The financing is the first limited recourse financing of a nuclear project, adviser to the banks Herbert Smith Freehills said, and combines project finance and corporate finance elements. The loan is backed by long-term revenues from the plant, which began construction in 2006. The plant had an installed capacity of 84% at the end of May. When running at full capacity, it will produce enough enriched uranium to supply 70 reactors with nuclear fuel. The project is the first centrifuge-base enrichment plant in France.