Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding is partnering with Areva, a multinational energy company based in France, to construct a $363.4 million manufacturing facility for nuclear reactors in Newport News, Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Thursday.
Construction will begin early next year on the 300,000-square-foot plant that will eventually bring 540 engineering and production jobs to the region, including 340 initial hires when production begins in 2012, said Margaret Mitchell-Jones, a spokeswoman for Northrop Grumman.
No radioactive nuclear material will be handled, she said. Rather, the plant will produce reactor parts such as steam generators and pressurizers, some weighing more than 500 tons.
"This joint venture project is tremendous news for Virginia," said Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in a statement. "We are strong supporters of the nuclear and shipbuilding industries in Virginia, and we will continue to support this facility and compete aggressively for future expansions."
Virginia beat out several states for the project, including South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Indiana, according to a state news release.
This is the second major business development for Newport News this year. In May, Canon Inc. said it will expand its operations there and add more than 1,000 jobs.
Florence Kingston, director of development for Newport News, called the projects "a validation of Newport News as a place for advanced manufacturing and high-quality engineering and production."
The state and local governments have promised the venture, called Areva Newport News LLC, more than $23 million in incentives, including $3 million from the Governor's Opportunity Fund, $4.5 million in performance-based funding and $1.3 million in tax credits for job training, said Christie Miller, a spokeswoman with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership.
Newport News has promised a $6.5 million energy technology infrastructure grant and a $1.2 million discount on leasing office space in the city's Rouse Tower, Kingston said.
That government money would be better spent on supporting other forms of energy, said Glen Besa, director of the Virginia Sierra Club, an environmental organization.
"It's really unfortunate that the state continues to pursue these conventional energy sources when there's a real need to make investments in efficiency first and then in renewable energy," Besa said. "Nuclear energy is the most heavily subsidized source of energy that we have in this country. And if those same incentives were given to efficiencies and renewables, we'd be much further along in supplying clean, safe energy."
Areva SA is the leading nuclear vendor in the United States and worldwide, employing 5,300 people domestically, including 2,000 in Lynchburg where it makes nuclear fuel rods. Its third-quarter sales rose 9 percent to 2.9 billion euros - nearly $3.8 billion - due to progress with its atomic power plant projects, the company reported Thursday.
Areva competes with such firms as GE Hitachi and Westinghouse Electric to build nuclear reactors for power companies. Interest in nuclear power waned after the Three Mile Island incident in 1979, but utilities have proposed building plants because of rising costs of other fuels.
The Newport News joint venture will supply parts for seven nuclear plants Areva is negotiating to build in the United States using its "evolutionary power reactor," said Jarret Adams, a company spokesman.
"The nuclear power industry is bringing back 'Made in America,' " said Tom Christopher, president and chief executive of Areva's North American division, in a statement. "We are establishing a world-class entity that fully supports the deployment of a fleet of U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactors made in America by Americans and for Americans."
Areva will own 67 percent of the venture and Northrop Grumman the rest. While Areva brings nuclear know-how, Northrop Grumman brings a trained work force, experience manufacturing heavy equipment and a prime site along the James River, offering easy transportation for heavy goods.
"This was an excellent opportunity to use the same types of skills that are employed at the shipyard," Mitchell-Jones said. "It's a good strategic fit with an excellent strategic partner."
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding is the largest private employer in Hampton Roads and sole builder of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers for the Navy. It is currently renegotiating its contract with United Steelworkers of America Local 8888, the union that represents about 40 percent of its 19,000 workers.
The new venture is not an effort to decrease the company's reliance on defense contracting, said Mitchell-Jones of Northrop Grumman.
"It in no way indicates any shift away from shipbuilding," she said. "We're very dedicated to shipbuilding."
Kathy Adams, (757) 446-2583, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
French Spoken Here!
With the Northrup Grumman venture with France on nuclear equipment.
Does this mean, we not only speak English. We now have to add French along with Spanish to our language library?
I should've take French back in college!
Hmmm....
For some reason, after reading this article, I have the urge to jump outta this swivel chair and scream GO NAVY!!! BEAT ARMY!!!!
Seriously, we as a country need to get moving towards alternative and renewable energy sources.
The feds have a number of pre-approved reactor designs which should be able to accelerate the construction of these plants and bringing them online.
Nuclear power is safe and there are many nuclear power techs out in the civilian community, as well as in the Navy.
Stop complaining
Who cares what it looks like we need the jobs that this facility will bring. Are you people forgetting that the navy is looking at moving ships from this area to Florida. The Ford plant was a big loss this would be huge.
good news
Get r done!
NIMBY!
For all the Not In My Back Yard people I have a solution.
Let's just say Chesapeake decides to build a gasoline refinery in southern Chesapeake miles from any residential area with the deciding factor being that residents of Chesapeake pay no tax on gasoline purchased within the city. You show your drivers licence or scan it at the pump and no tax for you but plenty for the NIMBY crowd. Simple solid solution that would pass hands down.
Well said hurdboy!
What is frightening is how misinformed and uneducated the public is on Nuclear Power. They hear the work "Nuclear" and think only of war and destruction - Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons really have nothing to do with each other. I wonder if people realize Surry and North Anna are Nuclear Power Plants owned by Dominion Power. Uranium can supply energy for the world's electricity with less greenhouse effect than virtually any other energy source and the amount used in a Nuclear Faciality is surprisingly minute. The Reactors are built to withstand not only Hurricanes and natural disastors, but a 747 Airplane would literally bounce off. With regard to asthetics, some of the Nuclear Plants I have seen are absolutely beautiful facilities - St. Lucie, FL, is one example. And yes, the facility being built in NN is not a reactor, but where the components will be made - and anything that brings well paying jobs to our area is an absolute plus! GO Nuclear!
France
Looks like it is okay to be French agian. 500 hight tech jobs is great news. We just have to start building plants so the 500 new hires have some thing to make.... just not in my backyard.
Nuclear Power
You know it still amazes me that people can be so ignorant about nuclear power. Look at the facts Nuclear power costs $0.02-.03 per kwh, coal costs $0.07-.09 and still emits CO2. Alternative fuels would be great, but for one our electric grid can't handle it and for another large scale implementation is predicted to take 30 years to build enough wind, solar, geothermal to be able to handle 20% of the United states electric needs. Nuclear is safe too, people base their fears of nuclear off problems that happened 40 years ago, believe it or not technology has come quite a long way. I think Glen and the rest of the sierra club need to go back to their drum circle and bongs and come back when they want a little dose of reality.
Ms Adams, here is some fact checking
Ms Adams, you quote one Glen Besa as saying: "Nuclear energy is the most heavily subsidized source of energy that we have in this country".
Let's check, shall we? The Dept of Energy has nice statistics on http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/energy_in_brief/energy_subsidies.cfm. In 2007, the lion's share of Federal subsidies went to renewable energy with $4.8 billion. Nuclear received only $1.2 B. When accounting for quantity of energy produced, subsidies per unit of production for wind power were $23.37, vs. $1.59 for nuclear. That's right: wind power got FOURTEEN TIMES more money per watthour than nuclear!
Ms Adams, I don't know if Besa is lying or delusional, but did you have to parrot him so uncritically? Please check your facts.
I want one
Bury one of those in the backyard. No need for a diesel generator set to keeps the data flowing and internet presence during a hurricane. No need to worry about kilowatt hours running the biggest and slowest of classic computers. The personal nuclear reactor. That'd be cool.
eyesore?
Who cares what it looks like? Glad to see more jobs coming to Hampton Roads!
Your miseducation shows.
Your miseducation shows. The plant is not an operating nuclear reactor - it's a manufacturing plant for the parts that make up the reactors...no contamination what so ever...read slowly so you understand because the words aren't moving too fast. Anything that brings 550 jobs to the area is ok. by me.
When's the last time you
When's the last time you went to downtown NN? Most of the area around the shipyard is an eyesore, especially the part they're depicting on the map.
As for the facility, itself, Newport News is the perfect place to get the US's nuclear energy program back off the ground. There are very few places in the country where you'll find as many qualified people. Also, despite Barry's proclamations about renewable energy being here in ten years, there's no guarantee that it will work. In 2019, however, splitting atoms and burning petroleum will still produce energy.
great
three eyed fish here we come!
That is the ugliest facility I've ever seen
Its a shame this region continues to tolerate the construction of horrific eyesores. This one even manages to look awful by both land and by sea while apparently simultaneously allowing runoff from the parking lot to pollute the water system.