Crisis for Areva's La Hague plant as clients shun nuclear

A technician walks along the pool storage where spent nuclear fuel tanks are unload in baskets under 4 meters of water to decrease temperature as part of the treatment of nuclear waste at the Areva Nuclear Plant of La Hague, near Cherbourg, western France, April 22, 2015. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

BEAUMONT-HAGUE, France (Reuters) - Areva's nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in La Hague needs to cut costs as its international customers disappear following the Fukushima disaster, and its sole remaining big customer, fellow state-owned French utility EDF, pressures it to cut prices.

Located at the westernmost tip of Normandy, La Hague reprocesses spent nuclear fuel for reuse in nuclear reactors and is a key part in Areva's production chain, which spans uranium mining to fuel recycling.