Tri-City employer of 550 changes its name — again

Something old is new again at Areva, the Richland plant that manufactures fuel for nuclear power plants.

The plant, which employs 550 people, is going back to a previous name, Framatome.

The name was picked after EDF became the new majority shareholder of a subsidiary of Areva NP on Dec. 31.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to build on the heritage of the Framatome name and our nearly 50 years here in the Richland community,” said Ron Land, the Richland site manager for what is now Framatome.

The Richland plant fabricates the nuclear power plant fuel that produces about 5 percent of the utility-generated electricity in the United States.

The plant has operated in Richland under many different names since it opened as Jersey Nuclear in 1969.

It changed its name from Siemens Power Corp. to Framatome ANP Richland in 2001 and then to Areva in 2004, as Paris-based Areva phased in its name to some subsidiaries.

Areva and EDF signed a contract in November 2016 for Areva to sell a portion of its company, dubbed New NP, to French-based EDF.

New NP included Areva’s work related to the design and manufacturing of nuclear reactors and equipment, fuel assemblies and related services.

As of the first of the year, EDF owns 75.5 percent of Framatome, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries owns 19.5 percent and Assystem owns 5 percent. Framatome employs 14,000 people worldwide.

“Framatome possesses unique know-how in an industry that today is, and will remain, key for a low-carbon energy mix,” said Barnard Fontana, chief execute of Framatome, on Thursday.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 6:49 PM with the headline "Tri-City employer of 550 changes its name — again."