French nuclear company Areva announced Monday it is acquiring Ausra, a Mountain View-based concentrated solar thermal startup backed by several Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

The deal effectively launches Areva's first foray into the often volatile solar energy business, which has been hampered recently by the credit squeeze and the high cost of financing utility-scale projects. Areva, which is owned by the French government, is already heavily invested in offshore wind, biomass and hydrogen storage and had been actively shopping for a solar partner.

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