A French nuclear expert who addressed the American Nuclear Society (ANS) Chattanooga Section on the UTC campus called for an appeal to President Obama, asking him to “launch a new energy deal, like the new deal in the ’30s. There is a lot of need here in the U.S. for energy resources.”
Jacques Besnainou, President of AREVA Inc., President & CEO of AREVA NC Inc. and member of the AREVA Nuclear Executive Committee said nuclear energy is recyclable.
“It is not renewable, but it is recyclable,” Besnainou said. “And that’s why we have to think about it as a solution to the world’s energy needs.”
Besnainou began his career in 1987 as a management consultant for a French investment bank, and was soon appointed as an advisor to the French Ministry of Industry for civilian nuclear affairs. In 1993, Jacques joined the Ecobilan Group, an environmental consulting firm specializing in life cycle assessments. He went on to successfully form and develop Ecobilan’s U.S. subsidiary, and relocated to the Washington, DC area.
After becoming the CEO of the Ecobilan Group, he negotiated its sale to PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000. Besnainou then joined COGEMA, Inc. in 2001 as Executive Vice-President, in charge of used nuclear fuel management operations in the United States. In 2005, Besnainou was appointed at the AREVA Nuclear Executive Committee in charge of the Back End sector.
“If you go to India or China, there is not a debate. They are going full speed ahead in nuclear,” Besnainou said. “Even Middle East oil producers are moving to nuclear.”
According to Besnainou, AREVA’s La Hague plant has been in operation for forty years. He described the waste from the plant as a highly stable glass form which is later disposed into a deep cave. This form of nuclear waste can remain stable for a million years, according to Besnainou.
Besnainou believes this method can be applied in the United States and proposes continuing a partnership with the United States.
“A mixed oxide fuel fabrication facility is being built near the Savannah River in South Carolina,” Besnainou said.
Besnainou holds Master of Science degrees in Mathematics, Engineering and Public Policy from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Mines. He has acquired nearly 20 years of management and systems engineering experience in both France and the United States.
