FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Published: May 7, 2008

BOISE, Idaho — Executives from French-owned energy services company Areva Incorporated say they have picked eastern Idaho for a new $2 billion uranium enrichment plant.

Before selecting Idaho, Areva officials considered sites in five states, including two of sites in Virginia.

In February, Areva spokeswoman Laurence Pernot said that locations in the Lynchburg area and the Galax area had been considered for the facility.

However, as tax incentives for the company advanced in Idaho’s legislature, Pernot announced that Virginia was no longer in the running.

Company officials announced today plans to build the facility 18 miles west of Idaho Falls, near the Idaho National Laboratory, where scientists have researched nuclear energy since the 1940s.

The company’s decision was influenced by concessions approved late in the 2008 Legislature.

In March, lawmakers approved extending a sales tax exemption for production equipment that handles nuclear fuel. Lawmakers also capped property tax valuations at the plant at $400 million.

Areva President Michael McMurphy says the plant will help fill a market for more clean energy alternatives and the infrastructure to support it.

Before the plant is built, Areva still must get approval from local, state and national agencies, including a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.