ESI Group, pioneer and world-leading solution provider in virtual prototyping for the manufacturing industries, announces the release of a nuclear micro-site (http://energy.esi-group.com/), aimed at presenting solutions for nuclear engineering.

When ESI was created in 1973, it developed consultancy studies for the nuclear power sector, modeling severe accident situations to demonstrate the safety of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP). ESI's engineering expertise was later significantly reinforced in 1997 with the acquisition of Framasoft®, a subsidiary of Framatome® (now AREVA). This acquisition enabled ESI to support the industry's ever growing challenges with a unique suite of simulation software; addressing first and foremost strict safety regulations, improving the performance and reliability of the plants, managing outages, and extending the lifetime of NPP while ensuring budget alignment.

ESI simulation solutions cover all aspects of the plant lifecycle from design to maintenance engineering, from lifetime extension to decommissioning. ESI also offers comprehensive engineering services to develop and validate customers' engineering methodologies. This holistic approach enables realistic 'as-built' and 'as-operated' modeling leading to reducing conservatism without impairing safety.

"ESI studies have an excellent quality level and constitute a reliable basis for solving our problems. The team's reactivity is their second key quality and allows us to answer to our customers in a very short period of time. The very good interaction between our units and the ESI engineers and managers is important to us as it gives AREVA more flexibility and improves the quality of the numerical tools we develop together," declaredPhilippe Gilles, AREVA International Expert in Mechanics and Materials.

Supported by worldwide recognized scientific experts, such as Prof. Leblond, member of the French Academy of Science, or Prof. Yagawa, member of the Academy of Science of Japan, and through a close cooperation with vendors such as AREVA, utilities such as EDF, and safety regulators such as the ASN or CEA; ESI has addressed some of the most crucial technical challenges in the nuclear sector. The company is a member of several professional organizations, including NEI (Nuclear Energy Institute) in the United States, JANTI (Japan Nuclear Technology Institute) in Japan, and PNB (Pôle Nucléaire de Bourgogne) in France. Its Quality Assurance program has been established to meet the stringent safety regulations of the nuclear industry. In addition to its ISO 9001:2008 certification, ESI complies with Nuclear Power standards and regulations, specifically the requirements of 10CFR50B. Companies including EDF, AREVA and MHI, have certified ESI as a valid supplier.

ESI's expertise is recognized by leaders in nuclear power worldwide including AREVA, B&W, BARC, Doosan Heavy Industries, Dong Fang, EDF, General-Electric, GNPH, IGCAR, MHI, Skoda Power, Tractebel Engineering, Toshiba or Vitkovice, among others.

To learn more about ESI's nuclear expertise and read available case studies, please visit http://energy.esi-group.com.

For more ESI news, visit: www.esi-group.com/newsroom

About ESI Group

ESI is a pioneer and world-leading solution provider in virtual prototyping for manufacturing industries that takes into account the physics of materials. ESI has developed an extensive suite of coherent, industry-oriented applications to realistically simulate a product's behavior during testing, to fine-tune manufacturing processes in accordance with desired product performance, and to evaluate the environment's impact on performance. ESI's solutions fit into a single collaborative and open environment for End-to-End Virtual Prototyping, thus eliminating the need for physical prototypes during product development. The company employs about 850 high-level specialists worldwide covering more than 30 countries. ESI Group is listed in compartment C of NYSE Euronext Paris. For further information, visit www.esi-group.com.

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ESI Group ? Media Relations
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