China Wants Two Units From AREVA

From the New York Times:

The French state-run company Areva has unexpectedly agreed to a $5 billion deal to build two nuclear power plants in China weeks after an American rival appeared to have won a competition that dragged on for more than two years.

Beijing’s decision to add two plants, expanding the program to six from four plants, was considered a surprise.

The agreement covers a total of 3.2 gigawatts of generating capacity in southern Guangdong Province, the government-backed China Nuclear Society said on Tuesday.

Final commercial details have yet to be hammered out, but the two reactors are set for completion around 2013, the organization added.

The other four reactors refer to the separate deal that China recently completed with Westinghouse.