Newport News facility will build nuclear plant components

NEWPORT NEWS

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and Areva, an international energy company based in Paris, broke ground Wednesday on a manufacturing facility that will supply large component parts for nuclear power plants in the United States.

The 330,000-square-foot facility, a $363 million investment, will be built on 20 acres on the north end of the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding property, just south of the James River Bridge. It is expected to be operational within three years.

The plant will provide 350 jobs - for skilled craftsmen, engineers and managers, among others - and eventually employ more than 500 people.

About 200 people, including Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, Newport News Mayor Joe Frank and top executives from the two companies, were among those attending the ceremony.

Kaine said the project combines "everything we love about economic development," bringing together a highly skilled work force and a global player.

"It's in the service of solving one of the toughest challenges that the entire world faces, which is how to have an affordable and sustainable energy future, while dealing with the greenhouse gas problem," Kaine said.

Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding and Areva formed a joint venture in October 2008 to design, engineer and manufacture large parts used in the construction of U.S. nuclear power plants.

Areva is the majority owner of the joint venture, named Areva Newport News LLC. The main offices will be in Newport News.

Chris Levesque, president and general manager of the joint venture, will oversee the construction, start up and operations of the plant, the company said in a statement.

There are 104 nuclear power plants in the United States, a portion of which are served by Areva, said Jarret Adams, a company spokesman.

The company hopes to build 50 to 60 power plants globally over the next 20 to 30 years, he said.

Eight sites are under consideration in the United States, including one in upstate New York and another in Pennsylvania, Adams said.

The Newport News facility will be the first full-scale heavy-component operation dedicated to supplying the first nuclear power plants built in the United States in 35 years, according to the company's statement.

Neither nuclear fuel nor nuclear materials will be used or produced in any of the work at the new facility in Newport News, the company said.

Once the components are manufactured, tested and assembled, they will be transported by barge to a domestic power-generating facility.

Any nuclear work will be conducted after the parts have left the Newport News plant, according to the company statement.

Robert McCabe, (757) 446-2327, robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com