Framatome Technologies Inc history

The company quickly became a major player in the nuclear industry when it manufactured components for the first full-scale peacetime nuclear power plant in the United States – the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania – in 1957.

In 1958, several companies of French industrial giant the Schneider Group joined with Empain, Merlin Gérin, and the American Westinghouse to license Westinghouse's PWR technology and develop a bid for Chooz 1.

By the beginning of 1960, only two bids remained in contention; in the middle of the year, Framatome received informal permission to begin the design work on the Chooz reactor.

A formal contract was signed in September 1961 for Framatome to deliver a turnkey system, that is, not only the reactor, but an entire, ready-to-use system of piping, cabling, supports, and other auxiliary systems, propelling Framatome from a nuclear engineering firm to an industrial contractor.

Following the boom of success for the nuclear division, the company’s Atomic Energy Division moved its headquarters from New York City to Central Virginia in 1963.

The Chooz 1 reactor went critical in October 1966 and was attached to the French electric system in April of the following year.

Then, in 1969, Framatome won its second nuclear plant contract, again from a French-Belgian cooperative agreement, to build the Tihange 1 plant in Belgium.

Framatome won the first of these contracts, for 16 plants, in 1974.

On August 4, 1975, the nod went to PWR and Framatome.

In 1976, Framatome was awarded the second multiyear contract, this time for ten reactors; this was soon followed by a third contract for eight reactors, which was later extended to include 12 more reactors.

By 1981, Framatome employed some 5,000; the following year, its engineering staff alone numbered 5,000 employees.

In 1982, its license contract with Westinghouse expired, allowing Framatome to develop its own in-house specifications for the first time.

The company had already taken a step in its eventual direction in 1987 when it had acquired a stake in the connectors business of Souriau.

In order to continue to support the commercial nuclear industry, BWXT and French-owned Framatome SA formed a joint venture in 1989.

Chooz 1 went back on line after two years of repair work and continued to operate without incident until 1993, when it was shut down.

Alcatel-Alsthom's next attempt against Framatome came in 1994, when the French government, under Eduouard Balladur, decided to privatize Framatome and give the government's controlling share of the company to Alcatel-Alsthom.

In 1995, BWXT was chosen to downblend a stockpile of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) as part of Project Sapphire.

Always looking for new opportunities, the company was contracted to design and manufacture the nuclear technology and reactor components for NASA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter under Project Prometheus in 2003.

The first market basket contract was a $1.8 billion agreement signed in 2007.

The first Ford-class aircraft carrier was ordered by the United States Government in 2008, providing more work for BWXT to manufacture her reactor.

Ltd.) (70%) and EDF (30%), created in 2009.