Framatome
 Framatome's logo since 2018 | |
Formerly | Areva NP |
|---|---|
| Industry | Nuclear power |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Headquarters | La Défense, Courbevoie, France |
Number of locations | 58 |
Area served | France, US, China, Germany |
Key people | Bernard Fontana |
| Owner |
EDF (75,5 %) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (19,5 %) Assystem (5 %). |
Number of employees | 14000+ |
| Subsidiaries |
|
| Website | www.framatome.com |
Framatome is a French reactor business.[1] It was created on 4 January 2018, when Areva NP was sold off, following Areva's bankruptcy.
It is owned by Électricité de France (75.5%), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (19.5%), and Assystem (5%).
Former company (1958–2001)
Current Framatome has its roots in a Framatome which was founded in 1958 by several companies of the French industrial giant The Schneider Group along with Empain, Merlin Gérin, and the American Westinghouse, in order to license Westinghouse's pressurized water reactor (PWR) technology and develop a bid for Chooz A (in France). Called Franco-Américaine de Constructions Atomiques (Framatome), the original company consisted of four engineers, one from each of the parent companies. The original mission of the company was to act as a nuclear engineering firm and to develop a nuclear power plant that was to be identical to Westinghouse's existing product specifications.[2] The first European plant of Westinghouse design was by then already under construction in Italy.
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.
In January 1976, Westinghouse agreed to sell its remaining 15 percent share to Creusot-Loire, which now owned 66 percent, and to cede complete marketing independence to Framatome.[3][4] In February, the Belgian Édouard-Jean Empain sold his 35 percent interest in Creusot-Loire to Paribas, a French government-linked banking group.
A January 1982 company reorganization simultaneously strengthened French public and private control of the company by allowing Creusot-Loire to increase its share of the company while increasing CEA say in the running of the firm. In 2001, German company Siemens' nuclear business was merged into Framatome.[5] Framatome and Siemens had been officially cooperating since 1989 for the development of the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR).[6]
In 2001, Framatome merged with other companies and formed Areva, which later went bankrupt, thus forming the "new Framatome".
References
- ↑ "New NP resurrects Framatome name". World-Nuclear-News.org. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
- ↑ "Framatome SA History". International Directory of Company Histories. FundingUniverse. 1998. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ↑ Lewis, Paul (24 January 1981). "France Set to Build Reactors". New York Times. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ↑ "Westinghouse sells French nuclear stake". Chemical & Engineering News. 54 (2). 1976. doi:10.1021/cen-v054n002.p005. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
An agreement signed in Paris calls for Westinghouse to sell its 45% stake in Framatome, France's sole maker of commercial nuclear plants, to the government-run Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique (CEA) and to Creusot-Loire, a major French engineering firm, for $25 million... Westinghouse will continue to receive license royalties at present rates on the existing and planned nuclear reactors designed around its pressurized-water reactor system.
- ↑ Vanessa Fuhrmans (2011-04-15). "Siemens Rethinks Nuclear Ambitions". The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Andrew Teller (2 February 2010). "The EPR Reactor: Evolution to Gen III+ based on proven technology" (PDF). Areva. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
External links
- Home page
- "Framatome SA History". International Directory of Company Histories. FundingUniverse. 1998.