Conversion operations are performed by COMURHEX, an AREVA NC subsidiary.
	With a 25 percent share of the western market, COMURHEX is number one worldwide in the conversion of uranium mine concentrates into UF6.
	COMURHEX has a processing capacity of 14,000 tonnes of uranium per year and exports about 40 percent of its production to American, Asian and European customers.

The Uranium Conversion Process
Uranium in the form of U3O8 is not usable as a fuel in light-water reactors, which represent most of the nuclear reactors in the world, because it requires enrichment. Therefore, the U3O8 must first be chemically converted into gaseous UF6 and then enriched.

COMURHEX performs this chemical conversion in a two-step process:

The COMURHEX-Malvesi plant dissolves and purifies the uranium concentrate and converts it into uranium tetrafluoride (UF4).
The COMURHEX-Pierrelatte plant converts UF4 into UF6

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