French nuclear energy giant Areva said Thursday its order book increased by 3.1 percent last year to 45.6 billion euros ($59.8 billion) despite Fukushima nuclear disaster hitting sales.

Sales in 2011 dipped by 2.6 percent to 8.87 billion euros, with canceled orders in the wake of the disaster at the Japanese nuclear plant totalling 464 million euros, Areva said in a statement.

Fourth quarter sales held up even better, showing just a 0.5 percent decline to 2.9 billion euros.

However the reactor fuel unit took a 12.6 percent hit over the year due to the halting of operations at several Japanese nuclear plants following the March 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The services unit also saw sales drop 3.6 percent as design and construction projects were slowed in several countries.

The sales results were broadly in line with guidance Areva provided last month when the company said it expected to end with an operating loss of 1.4 to 1.6 billion euros.

Areva announced last month 2.4 billion euros in provisions, said it planned to sell 1.2 billion euros in assets, slash investments by one-third over the next five years to 7.7 billion euros and squeeze costs to regain its competitive footing.

'No radiation fears' in Fukushima for Louvre works
Tokyo (AFP) Jan 26, 2012 –

A Fukushima museum official on Thursday played down concerns in France about the possible contamination of artworks soon to be loaned to the nuclear hit region by the Louvre.

The Paris museum plans to send 24 pieces to Japan, including to Fukushima prefecture, home to the stricken nuclear plant, in a show of solidarity with the disaster-hit country.

The touring exhibition will run from April 27 to September 17 in Japan's Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, a Louvre official told a joint news conference with Japanese museum officials at the French embassy in Tokyo.

The artworks — paintings, sculptures, drawings and other works from different eras and civilizations — will arrive on July 28 at the Fukushima prefectural Museum of Art some 60 kilometres (37 miles) away from the tsunami-hit nuclear power plant.

Tetsuo Sakai, head of the Fukushima museum, said radiation levels inside the exhibition room averaged 0.05 microsieverts per hour — a long way below government-mandated evacuation levels.

However, he acknowledged radiation levels outside the facility have been much higher, still hovering at around 1.0 microsievert per hour.

Museum officials are now removing a contaminated lawn as part of their efforts to reduce levels of radioactivity ahead of the exhibition, he added.

"With these efforts, radiation levels will decline further and further," Sakai told the news conference.

The show was organised as a gesture of solidarity with the Japanese, after last year's massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami hit the northeast of Japan, sparking the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the Louvre official said.

"The proposed project is going to encourage Fukushima people, telling them, 'You are not alone'," the Fukushima museum chief said.