Areva CEO Philippe Knoche is seen at this month’s World Nuclear Association Symposium, in London, outlining what he intends doing to prop up Areva’s remaining uranium mining and fuel treatment operations in the wake of State-controlled Electricite de France already relieving it of its reactor business. World Nuclear News outlined that the stricken French company’s challenges include the need to complete large unfinished projects, adapt to post-Fukushima market conditions and slash debt. With last year’s record $5.6-billion losses blamed on “soft to too soft” customer commitments, the 45 000-employee company – which dealt a blow to Southern Africa in 2012 when it mothballed the Trekkopje uranium project, in Namibia – now intends taking an axe to its many layers of management and reaching out to the market to raise more capital.