The head of French nuclear company Areva plans to pay a working visit to China soon as the company awaits confirmation of two contracts for third-generation EPRs (European Pressurised water Reactors), Areva said on Tuesday.
An Areva spokesman said company chief executive Anne Lauvergeon "will go to China soon for a working visit as part of the frequent visits that she pays to the country."
In late August Lauvergeon said negotiations with China on the two reactors had reached "a determining stage."
However, anti-nuclear organisation Sortir du Nucleaire said that one of the orders had been cancelled on the originally planned site and another location proposed. Areva denied the report.
The EPR was launched in 1992 and has already been sold in France and Finland.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is also expected to visit China on Thursday and Friday to meet a top energy official, Chen Deming.
Lagarde had been scheduled to visit China in July to sign a letter of intent for the orders, but her visit was postponed for technical reasons.
The order would be historic for Areva, the world leader in the nuclear reactor sector.
Originally conceived for a lifespan of 60 years, the EPR reactor is slightly more powerful than its predecessors at 1,600 MW.
