Framatome: Embracing the past, but still on the cutting edge

If you are used to seeing the big ‘A’ as you cruise down Stevens toward the Hanford site, or past our facility at 2101 Horn Rapids Road, you might have noticed a change recently.

The big red ‘A’ – our AREVA logo and brand identity at the Richland nuclear fuel manufacturing facility for the past 11 years – has been replaced by a name from our past that some of you may be familiar with: Framatome.

In January, as part of our new ownership by Electricite de France (EdF), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), and Assystem, we returned to the name Framatome, a name we operated under from 2001 to 2006. With the name Framatome, we proudly embrace our heritage. It is a well-known brand and unifying name that inspires respect and has international reach.

This is not the first name or ownership change for this plant. Our rich history dates back to 1969 when Jersey Nuclear built our fuel manufacturing facility. Through the changes in our name and owners, we remained the same committed community partner and employer, manufacturing and delivering nuclear fuel products to customers around the world.

We continue to partner with government agencies and other industry experts to design and develop new, innovative fuel designs. This year, we expect one of our busiest manufacturing years since 2010, and look forward to advancing our technologies right here in the Tri-Cities.

We are preparing to build our first set of fuel test assemblies with enhanced safety features as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s enhanced accident tolerant fuel program. The program’s goal is to design fuel that is more durable under severe accident conditions, as experienced by the Fukushima power plant in 2011.

Last year, we signed a contract with Southern Nuclear to build four test assemblies with chromia-enhanced pellets and chromium-coated rods that will be put into a reactor beginning in 2019. This is a significant milestone for us as we continue to research and develop innovative solutions that not only reduce costs for our customers, but also increase the safety of our industry.

Through our joint venture “Enfission,” announced in January, we are working with Lightbridge Corporation on a unique metallic fuel design to bring their innovative solution to market. We continue to support NuScale Power, who submitted a design certification application (DCA) for their small modular reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last year.

We eagerly anticipate the loading of our latest fuel designs – ATRIUM™11 for boiling water reactors (BWR) and GAIA for pressurized water reactors (PWR) – into nuclear reactors for full reloads in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

These upcoming opportunities make it an exciting time for us. We are also encouraged by recent actions from the state and federal governments which, through legislation, have demonstrated the importance and value of nuclear energy. Recent bills passed in Illinois and New York provide a level playing field to nuclear power operators and are key legislation enabling reactors to continue operation.

Southern Company recently announced it is going forward with its plan to build two new nuclear reactors – Vogtle 3 and 4 – in Georgia, anticipated to go into service beginning in 2019. These will be the first new reactors constructed in the U.S. since Watts Bar 2 went online in 2015 in Tennessee.

The Nuclear Energy Institute recently released a study of Washington’s own Columbia Generating Station. The report demonstrates not just the generation value of nuclear energy, but the economic and employment benefits Columbia and other such plants provide. Columbia Generating Station supports thousands of jobs in Washington and the rest of the country through its operations, and produces significant economic benefits for Washington.

To ensure we can support the existing fleet of nuclear operators and meet the needs of our customers, we continue to upgrade and invest in our facility. For example, just last year we began construction on a new scrap uranium recovery facility that allows us to recover and purify uranium from our own plant and those of our customers.

In addition to important investments in our facility, we also remain committed to investing in our future workforce, and preparing students for a career in the nuclear industry. We continue to sponsor outreach initiatives and partnerships focusing on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education as well as trade and manufacturing positions, with the goal to develop a talented pipeline of our next generation of employees.

Each year brings new opportunities, not only for our customers, but also for our employees and the communities in which they live. Working as Framatome and grounded by our heritage, we are the same passionate, knowledgeable and experienced people committed to the safety and quality of the nuclear industry, and dedicated to improving our communities.

This story was originally published April 1, 2018 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Framatome: Embracing the past, but still on the cutting edge."