According to a company press release, AREVA and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, a sector of Northrop Grumman Corporation, have joined forces to build a new manufacturing and engineering facility in Newport News, Va., to supply the growing American nuclear energy sector.
The 300,000 square-foot facility represents a significant investment of more than $360 million in the U.S. commercial nuclear and manufacturing industries and will bring more than 500 jobs to Virginia.
“The nuclear power industry is bringing back ‘made in America’,” said Tom Christopher, CEO of AREVA Inc., the group’s North American division.
AREVA Newport News will be the first full-scale manufacturing facility dedicated to supply heavy components, such as reactor vessels, steam generators and pressurizers to the U.S. nuclear energy industry. These components will supply the first new U.S. nuclear power plants to be built in 35 years. Industry experts have viewed limited production of heavy components positioned against rising demand as a constraint on nuclear energy’s expansion.
“AREVA Newport News is powerful evidence of the reality of the U.S. nuclear energy resurgence and our commitment to it,” said AREVA CEO Anne Lauvergeon. “AREVA intends to build one-third of all new reactors around the world and at least seven in the United States. AREVA Newport News is a key step in our dual strategy to increase domestic content in the new nuclear power plants we build and to produce in dollars area. Together with our Chalon/St. Marcel plant in France, AREVA strengthens its capabilities to supply the global energy renaissance.”
AREVA has been manufacturing quality heavy components for the global commercial nuclear industry for more than 30 years at its Chalon/St. Marcel plant. Together with Northrop Grumman’s experience, AREVA Newport News will provide a secure domestic link in the supply chain for deploying the U.S. EPR and supporting a diverse energy mix that will mean safe, clean, affordable electricity for Americans.
Northrop Grumman’s Shipbuilding sector brings its heavy industrial engineering and manufacturing expertise and the culture of excellence required to build U.S. Navy nuclear ships to the venture. Along with its skilled workforce, Northrop Grumman has existing transportation access via the James River to deliver heavy components.
“This agreement is the result of several years of effort by both the AREVA and Northrop Grumman teams,” said Dan Arczynski, Vice President for Strategy, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. “The relationship that has formed between our great companies is grounded in similar cultures of heavy manufacturing excellence. This new venture will be good for both of our companies, the Commonwealth of Virginia and City of Newport News, and the future of manufacturing in America.”
It is great that with the development of this industry there will be more working places and even if the crisis is over soon, people still experience problems connected with their job search.