Subsidiary of French nuclear manufacturer Areva signs $2.7 billion deal to operate plant in South Carolina.<br><br>PARIS
 (AP) -- French nuclear manufacturer Areva says a subsidiary has signed a
 $2.7 billion (euro1.72 billion) deal with the U.S. Department of Energy
 to build and operate a nuclear fuel production facility in South 
Carolina.<br><br>Shaw Areva MOX Services has signed the deal to build a plant at the Savannah River site near Aiken, South Carolina.<br><br>The
 plant will mix leftover weapons-grade plutonium with uranium oxide to 
make fuel pellets called MOX, or mixed-oxide, for commercial nuclear 
reactors.<br><br>Areva already makes MOX fuel at a facility in France. It announced the deal Friday.<br><br>Through the agreement, the Department of Energy is exercising the construction options included in a contract signed in 1999.<br>