The United Arab Emirates said Wednesday it had selected six companies to supply fuel to its four planned nuclear reactors in deals worth an estimated $3 billion (2.43 billion euros). "The six contracts are valued at approximately US $3 billion according to ENEC forecasts," the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation said in a statement.
The UAE announced this month that it would begin building two of four 1,400 megawatt nuclear power plants in partnership with a South Korean consortium, the first of which is scheduled to begin production in 2017. ENEC said the companies providing raw material and enrichment services include France's Areva, London-headquartered Rio Tinto, the US company ConverDyn, Uranium One Inc of Canada, Britain's URENCO and Russia's TENEX. The companies will begin providing uranium and processing services beginning in 2014, and cover the needs of the four plants at Barakah for 15 years.