Nuclear power plant demolition contractor NorthStar Group Services Inc. has formed a partnership to acquire and dismantle shutdown reactors with AREVA SA's U.S.-based plant decommissioning services unit.

AREVA Nuclear Materials announced its joint venture with New York-based NorthStar on Feb. 1. The U.S. venture known as Accelerated Decommissioning Partners, or ADP, aims to reassure the industry and the public on the certainty of the final stage of shutdown reactor sites by combining AREVA's experience in nuclear component dismantling and used fuel management with NorthStar's extensive demolition and environmental remediation expertise.

"?ADP offers the industry an innovative approach to accelerate decommissioning of shutdown nuclear power facilities through a complete and permanent transfer of ownership of the asset, including used nuclear fuel, from utility owners to an entity who is an expert in decommissioning and used fuel management," Sam Shakir, CEO of AREVA Nuclear Materials, said in a news release.

The venture is already working with an unnamed U.S. energy company to assess the decommissioning and dismantling of several nuclear reactor sites slated for retirement. The venture expects the assessment to be finished by the end of 2017, following the negotiated transfer of ownership of the sites and their used fuel inventory once they are shutdown.