AREVA to Build Nuclear Reactor Manufacturing Facility in Virginia

Northrop Grumman announced last week that it has teamed up with AREVA, the largest Nuclear Energy producer in the world and backbone of the French Nuclear Industry.  The joint venture will be known as AREVA Newport News LLC.  

This company will combine the depth of French nuclear expertise provided by AREVA with the manufacturing technology and large skilled labor force of Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.  The resulting powerhouse will provide the manufacturing capacity necessary to usher in the American Nuclear Renaissance.

This new joint venture will provide a means of building the largest components of nuclear reactors right here in the USA.  It will have the capacity to produce Reactor Vessels, Steam Generators, and Pressurizes – the critical components in Pressurized Water reactors (PWRs).

Currently, there is only one such facility in the entire world, Japan Steel Works.  This world-wide lack of manufacturing capacity has caused a bottleneck in production due the expanding nuclear industry in Europe, China, and India with US companies scrambling to merely buy a place in line in the event the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) grants licenses for new nuclear power plant construction here in the United States.

The new Virginia facility, which will begin construction in early 2009, will demonstrate just how powerful an effect the Nuclear Renaissance can have on the US economy, environmental stewardship, and most importantly energy independence!

Already AREVA Newport News LLC plans to invest $363.4 million for construction.  Building the facility will produce 540 new high paying jobs, with additional jobs created to staff the plant.  Additional stimuli to the economy include road construction and job training programs to support plant operations and construction.

The new outfit will take advantage of existing infrastructure in the area including skilled labor from local ship builders, and transportation via air, rail, and sea.

But perhaps the most important benefit of this new operation is American workers will be building American nuclear reactors to promote American energy independence and at the same time help to pull the American economy out of a slump.

With a 30-year safety record behind it, The American Nuclear Industry has shown it can meet our current and future energy demands. This announcement is just one more indicator of the growing support for the Nuclear Industry here in America. Rising fuel prices, climate change, and national security all feed into this growing sentiment of approval for clean, safe, and reliable nuclear energy.  

As a patriot and young professional in the nuclear industry there is little I can do to hide my excitement over the potential this new facility holds for my career, my environment, and my country.

~Man Overboard