CORRECTED-Areva, EDF to sign uranium supply deal soon - paper

(Corrects day in second paragraph, Wednesday not Tuesday)

PARIS Feb 7 (Reuters) - French nuclear group Areva and power group EDF were expected to sign a long-term contract this week for the supply of uranium, French newspaper Les Echos reported on Tuesday without identifying its sources.

The agreement could be signed on Wednesday at a meeting of France's Nuclear Policy Council, headed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the paper said, in a sign ties between the two state-controlled groups are improving.

Les Echos did not have details of the duration of the contract nor of how much uranium Areva would supply to EDF but said the deal could also include joint investment in future projects.

A cooperation agreement between Areva and EDF in July was the first step in ending months of squabbling between the two energy groups and came after the government replaced Areva chief executive Anne Lauvergeon with Luc Oursel.

EDF chief executive Henri Proglio and Areva's Lauvergeon fell out following the loss of a landmark project in Abu Dhabi in December 2009.

In February 2011, the Nuclear Policy Council unveiled measures to streamline the country's industry.

At Areva and EDF, which runs France's 58 nuclear reactors, no one was immediately available to comment.

The council had asked Areva and EDF, its biggest client for enriched uranium, to strike a long-term supply deal.

The groups, along with EDF rival GDF Suez, were also asked to work together on the development of ATMEA, a medium-ranged new-generation nuclear reactor, which industry observers say is more fit to win deals abroad than the highly powerful and costly EPR.

Areva is embroiled in controversy over the disastrous mining acquisition of UraMin's southern African mines in 2007 and Anne Lauvergeon's role in the acquisition. (Reporting by Caroline Jacobs; Editing by Dan Lalor)