A new business coming to eastern Idaho is promising to bring with it close to one thousand new jobs.Senator Larry Craig announced today that Bonneville County was selected to house a two billion dollar uranium enrichment plant.
A french company, Areva, is going to open the 2-billion dollar uranium facility, which is the first in the U.S.
Today was a very exciting day for the science world and Bonneville County. And in 2014, the future of Idaho and quite possibly the world, in terms of nuclear energy, will start right here in our own backyard.
After an extensive technical, environmental and socio-economic analysis of several potential places of interest for the French company to build, eastern Idaho was selected to be the first uranium enrichment facility in the United States. The site will be located 18 miles west of town, near the Idaho National Laboratories.
Senator Larry Craig:"Areva is siteing this facility in a region of the country that within a very short time will be recognized as the clean energy corridor of the future".
Today, Idaho Falls officially welcomed Areva with a warm welcome of members from various groups throughout the community. And it was that sense of togetherness that was a factor in bringing Areva here to Bonneville County.
Robert Poyer, Vice President Areva Inc. "The community at large, the community leaders, all of these folks including the legislature who acted responsibly and quickly to bring themselves up to a competitive level with the other sites we were looking at was a pure demonstration of how this community works together."
Ground will break on the new site in 2010 but before that there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of licensing and obtaining permits. but everyone i spoke with today was extremely excited about this opportunity and what it could mean for the future of Idaho.


And since Areva will be the newest addition to eastern Idaho, it's fitting that we get to know them a bit more. So, who is Areva?
They are a French-based energy company with manufacturing facilities in over 40 countries worldwide.They contribute to carbon-dioxide-free power-generation and electricity that is cleaner, safer, and more economic. They currently staff over 65-thousand employees across the globe whose continuous goal is making sustainable development the focal point of the groups industrial strength.

On the local scene, Areva's impact on the area is being praised by prominent people in the city and state.
Linda Martin, Executive Director Grow Idaho Falls: "Can't stop smiling. We're very happy and I think that from this point in time its hard to estimate that valuable impact that will occur in the future".

We asked Mayor Jared Fuhriman whether Idaho Falls has the workforce readily available to support a project of this size.

Mayor Jared Fuhriman: "I think that's going to be the least of our concerns to be honest with you. We have the workforce here and there has been a little bit of a downtrend if you will, just brief and small within our community, but I don't see any problems with that at all".

Another reason that Idaho was selected, was the fact that our state legislature did everything they could to ensure that Idaho was selected as the future Areva site.

Dean Mortimer, Idaho State Representative: "We have been a forerunner in nuclear energy and we have the personnel, we have the expertise, we have the knowledge to make nuclear something that will be great for our country and supply energy in such a critical time and so, it's just a great opportunity".