Framatome has broken ground on a $50m expansion project at its Mill Ridge Road facility in Lynchburg, Virginia. The project includes expanding Framatome's current footprint to accommodate over 500 new employees, refurbishing its nuclear training centre to support the next generation of small and advanced reactor technologies, modernising existing office spaces and conference rooms, and increasing capacity for an innovation and design school. The facility provides specialised training and tooling to service and maintain North America's NPP fleet and develops solutions for advanced and small modular reactors.
The Mill Ridge Road site is the hub of Framatome's Installed Base Business Unit in North America. It includes the 2500-square-metre non-contaminated Technical Training Centre and the Outage Control Centre. The site also serves as the primary location of the Installed Base engineering organisation.
Framatome said the Mill Ridge Road facility expansion is complemented by modernisation to its other facilities in Lynchburg on Old Forest Road and Mount Athos Road. The company noted that these investments build on over half a century of collaboration from local and state leaders and support US utilities. "They are critical for the sustainability of the existing fleet and the advancement of nuclear energy."
The Old Forest Road site is Framatome's main facility in Lynchburg, hosting corporate support functions and engineers assisting the Fuel and Instrumentation & Control (I&C) Business Units. It also hosts the Nuclear Parts Centre and the industry’s SAFER emergency response control centre. The Mount Athos Road site has four service centres: the Pump & Motor Service Centre; the Contaminated Refurbishment Centre; the Chemistry & Materials Centre; and the Outage Equipment Support Centre.
"Today's ground-breaking embodies the heart of Framatome's vision of high-performing people and technologies for safe and competitive nuclear power plants in the US and worldwide," said Catherine Cornand, Senior Executive Vice President of Framatome's lnstalled Base Business Unit. "Continuous development of our facilities and our teams' skills represent our commitment to customers and the nuclear industry as we stand ready to meet the world's growing clean energy demand."
Craig Ranson, Executive Vice President of the lnstalled Base Business Unit at Framatome in North America, noted: "The journey to a sustainable energy future is a collective endeavour that requires passion and commitment from our employees, as well as unwavering support from communities and government officials. Today is a significant milestone in our growth fuelled by government investment and inspired by the need for carbon-free energy solutions."
Wynter Benda, Lynchburg City Manager, said: "Framatome is one of our oldest and most impactful corporate citizens – and this investment in the City of Lynchburg cements our position as a leading nuclear technology hub in the United States."
Image: Visualisation of Framatome's expansion of its Mill Ridge Road facility in Lynchburg, Virginia (courtesy of Framatome)
