Emmanuel Macron, France's economy minister, did not wait for Areva to set out its new strategic plan - which will involve significant undisclosed sales, unspecified annual cost savings of €1bn and a desire to strengthen its presence in China. Speaking to Le Figaro newspaper, Mr Macron suggested that Areva's salvation lay in a closer relationship with EDF, which operates France's nuclear power stations, and might include "greater industrial co-operation, or even a capital alliance".
If his aim was to restore relations between the two companies - which have been strained since the days of Anne Lauvergeon, Areva's charismatic former chief executive - Mr Macron might have gone about it the wrong way. Just two weeks ago, EDF's new chief executive Jean-Bernard Levy distanced his group from equity entanglements, saying talks with Areva were only about improving efficiency and co-operation.
But pushing the two companies to work together to revive France's flagging nuclear industry is a key plank of the government's economic plan. Their rivalry has cost France export orders and at one stage even had EDF threatening to collaborate with China on reactor designs for overseas customers, rather than marketing those by Areva.
However, with both companies majority controlled by the state, they will eventually have to bow to their main shareholder's will. Some analysts said the most likely outcome is that EDF takes a stake either in Areva itself, or in the nuclear engineering business once known as Framatome.
Philippe Knoche, Areva's new chief executive, said improving co-operation with EDF was a priority and talks on a capital alliance would take place "at a later stage".
Other people close to the situation admitted that this might help to resolve Areva's immediate financial challenges. But "it will only work if it makes industrial sense", one added. A fall in EDF's share price on Wednesday reflected investors' scepticism about any tie-up.
That is why Areva has to prove itself before any talks on a capital alliance with EDF take place.
Since the departure of Ms Lauvergeon, dubbed "atomic Anne", four years ago, Areva has racked up cumulative net losses of €8bn, raising questions over her strategy.
Ms Lauvergeon's ambitions to rival EDF by offering to shoulder the risk of building nuclear reactors through turnkey contracts - such as the first new generation pressurised water reactor in Finland - proved almost fatal. The group has taken almost €5bn in charges on the Finnish project since 2003. The plant is now a decade late and will cost €8bn, nearly three times as much as initially forecast.
But it was the Fukushima disaster in 2011, when a tidal wave destroyed the Japanese nuclear power plant, that threw Areva into its latest spin. A nascent global nuclear revival was killed off overnight.
Mr Knoche wants to unwind much of Ms Lauvergeon's expansion. In his turnround plan, Areva will no longer take on the risk of big projects and focus instead on the businesses that formed the core of the group at its creation in 2001 - the atomic fuel and nuclear engineering skills that complement EDF's operating activities.
That is expected to mean disposals but it is unlikely that Areva would sell its uranium mining activities, given France's heavy reliance on nuclear power. Nevertheless there could be sales of individual mines, according to insiders.
Mr Knoche and new Areva chairman Philippe Varin have worked on the strategic plan for three months. Now comes the hard part, when details have to be pinned down. Trade unions are already sounding battle cries at the unconfirmed prospect of job cuts.
Areva's leaders will also have to struggle against a market that will never reach the heady heights most had predicted in the heyday of nuclear optimism. And while Areva has stumbled from loss to even greater loss, its competitors have multiplied, not least in Asia.
Yet Mr Knoche is convinced that there is light at the end of the tunnel. A growing global population, hungry for more power and fewer carbon dioxide emissions means that nuclear capacity is forecast to increase 50 per cent globally by 2030, he said, adding: "We are convinced that nuclear has a contribution to make in the energy world of tomorrow."
(Financial Times)
