AREVA: Pursuing opportunities for innovation, growth
You may not have realized that AREVA’s Richland nuclear fuel manufacturing facility has been supplying fuel and related products for more than four decades. We built on that experience last year with innovative products that position us for growth with new and existing customers.
This past year, we celebrated the 45th anniversary of dedicating our facility and our first fuel shipment to a nuclear power facility. A lot has changed since then. What was a three-building, 60-person operation has evolved into 40 buildings onsite with more than 600 employees. Our skilled work force is known for its innovation and expertise, and that has enabled us to continue evolving and expanding our capabilities to ensure competitive growth in the energy market.
We are also known for being engaged volunteers and an active corporate citizen in the Tri-City community. This is important to us as an investment in our community and in the future generations of our work force.
This coming year will be no different. As AREVA’s Operational Center of Excellence for fuel manufacturing, we are continuing our facility’s modernization to meet our customers’ needs for advanced products. But there are concerns in the energy market.
The nuclear industry as a whole is facing several challenges not only in the United States, but worldwide. Several U.S. utilities announced they plan to shutter their reactors for a variety of economic reasons. The expected closure of these facilities only makes the existing market that much more competitive and reinforces our continued focus to further strengthen our quality and performance.
On the positive side, President Obama and Ernest Moniz, the U.S. secretary of Energy, include nuclear energy as an important part of our country’s energy portfolio and our clean energy future. To make sure we are a part of that vision, we will continue developing and delivering products and services that sustain the existing fleet of U.S. reactors and support the next-generation of nuclear energy.
In 2015, we introduced two new nuclear fuel designs, ATRIUM 11 and GAIA. These new fuel assemblies are designed to enhance safety and efficiency while meeting utilities’ increased performance demands for their reactors’ electricity generation. The Department of Energy also contracted with us to develop enhanced accident tolerant fuel (EATF), an advanced fuel design for light water reactors. This EATF design will be more durable under sever accident conditions, particularly when a reactor’s coolant system no longer functions.
In addition to enhancing our current products, we are positioning ourselves for new opportunities and growth in the nuclear market.
Late last year, we signed a contract with NuScale Power in Corvallis, Ore., to be their exclusive fuel supplier for their Small Modular Reactor (SMR) concept. We designed, tested and built model fuel assemblies in support of their reactor licensing application to be submitted later this year.
Along with investing in our products and operations, we remain committed to investing in our future work force, preparing them for a career in the nuclear industry. This may be one of our industry’s greatest challenges for sustaining nuclear energy.
More than 73 percent of our work force is over the age of 40, while less than 10 percent is under the age of 30. We need to pass along our expertise to the next generation to support not only the nuclear industry and our facility, but also our community. Preparing students and the future work force is an important reason for our community outreach.
Our volunteers and student program support are focused on bringing a greater awareness of careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and the importance of those roles at AREVA and other businesses. We work closely with Washington State University Tri-Cities and Columbia Basin College on providing opportunities and working on curriculum to enable students to be successful upon graduation. We also partnered with local organizations like the Washington State STEM Education Foundation and Delta High School, to increase awareness of careers in the nuclear industry.
This coming year will be challenging for our industry. But we will continue to do what we do best, and pursue opportunities for innovation, growth, and industry leadership for our operations and our employees.
This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 10:33 PM with the headline "AREVA: Pursuing opportunities for innovation, growth."