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1 August 2006 -- UniStar Nuclear, the jointly developed enterprise of Constellation Energy and AREVA, today announced that AREVA NP Inc. and BWX Technologies, Inc, a subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc., have signed an agreement that will re-establish commercial nuclear power plant component manufacturing in the United States and will support the UniStar business model and future fleet of nuclear power plants in North America.
The agreement between the two nuclear technology development and manufacturing companies is a major link in the UniStar supply chain. It will result in the ability to manufacture components for UniStar's fleet of U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (U.S. EPR) advanced nuclear power plants, as well as commercial nuclear plant replacement components for operating North American plants.
According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, there is potential for up to 18 license applications for new reactors in the United States by 2009. The companies predict that with so much activity, global supply of forgings and major components for new plants may become an issue.
"We're extremely proud of the fact that we're ushering in a new era of nuclear power in America. To meet the challenges associated with that effort, we must establish the necessary domestic manufacturing infrastructure to support the anticipated demand," said Tom Christopher, CEO of AREVA Inc. and co-chief executive officer of UniStar Nuclear.
BWXT's Nuclear Operations Division facility located on the Ohio River in Mount Vernon, Ind., will manufacture the components under the agreement as a subcontractor to AREVA. The facility currently manufactures non-commercial nuclear components for the U.S. government, and it could begin manufacturing commercial nuclear components as early as 2006.
BWXT has a similar manufacturing facility in Barberton, Ohio, that will continue its non-commercial manufacturing operations. Both the Mount Vernon and Barberton facilities recently received renewed nuclear accreditation from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
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