 Framatome's logo since 2018 | |
 Headquarters inLa Défense, France | |
| Formerly | Areva NP |
|---|---|
| Industry | Nuclear power |
| Founded | 1958; 67 years ago (1958) |
| Headquarters | La Défense,Courbevoie, France |
Number of locations | 58 |
Area served | France, US, China, Germany, United Kingdom |
Key people | Bernard Fontana |
| Revenue |  €4.67 billion (2024)[1] |
| Owner | EDF (80,5 %) Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (19,5 %). |
Number of employees | 18000+ |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | www.framatome.com |
Framatome (French pronunciation:[fʁamatɔm]) is a Frenchnuclear reactor business.[2] It is owned byÉlectricité de France (EDF) (80.5%) andMitsubishi Heavy Industries (19.5%).
The company first formed in 1958 to licenseWestinghouse'spressurized water reactor (PWR) designs for use in France. Similar agreements had been put in place with other European countries, and this led to a 1962 contract for a complete plant atChooz. Westinghouse sold its stake to engineering firmCreusot-Loire in 1976, and the company became solely French owned.
In 2001,Siemens sold its reactor business to Framatome. As part of a larger series of mergers withCogema and Technicatome, Framatome became theAreva NP division of the newAreva. It changed its name back to Framatome in 2018 after a major investment by utility operatorEDF.[3]
While originally a licensing and construction business, today Framatome supplies the entire reactor life-cycle, including design of theEuropean Pressurized Reactor (EPR), construction, fuel management and many related tasks.
Framatome was founded in 1958 by several companies of the French industrial giantSchneider Group along withEmpain,Merlin Gérin, and the AmericanWestinghouse, in order to license Westinghouse'spressurized water reactor (PWR) technology and develop a bid forChooz 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.[4] 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 aturnkey 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% share toCreusot-Loire, which now owned 66%, and to cede complete marketing independence to Framatome.[5][6] In February, the BelgianÉdouard-Jean Empain sold his 35% interest in Creusot-Loire toParibas, a French government-linked banking group.[citation needed]
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 increasingCEA say in the running of the firm. In 2001, German companySiemens' nuclear business was merged into Framatome.[7] Framatome and Siemens had been officially cooperating since 1989 on the development of theEuropean Pressurized Reactor (EPR).[8]
In 2001, after a merger withCogema (nowOrano) and Technicatome, a new nuclear conglomerate calledAreva was formed, and Framatome became Areva NP. In 2007, Areva andMitsubishi Heavy Industries created a joint venture namedAtmea, for marketing the ATMEA1 reactor design.[9] In 2009, Areva NP acquired 30% stake in the Mitsubishi Nuclear Fuel company.[9]
In 2009, Siemens sold its remaining shares in Areva NP.[10][11][12] In 2018, after restructuring of Areva, Areva NP was sold toÉlectricité de France.Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (19.5%), andAssystem (5%) also became shareholders. As a result of the restructuring, Électricité de France and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries became equal shareholders of Atmea with 50% of shares both while Framatome owns a special share in Atmea.[9][13]
Framatome designs, manufactures, and installs components, fuel and instrumentation and control systems for nuclear power plants and offers a full range of reactor services. It is responsible forFlamanville 3,Taishan 1 and 2, andHinkley Point C projects. In addition, Framatome conducts preliminary study for construction of six reactors at theJaitapur Nuclear Power Project in the Indian state of Maharashtra.[14][15]
Framatome providesEPR reactors, which is athird generationpressurised water reactor (PWR) design, andKerena reactors, which is 1,250 MWe Generation III+boiling water reactor (BWR) design, provisionally known asSWR-1000. The Kerena design was developed from that of theGundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant by Areva, with extensive German input and using operating experience fromGeneration II BWRs to simplify systems engineering.[16]
In 2016, following a discovery at Flamanville 3, about 400 large steel forgings manufactured by Framatome's Le Creusot Forge operation since 1965 were found to have carbon-content irregularities that weakened the steel. A widespread programme of French reactor checks was started involving a progressive programme of reactor shutdowns, continued over the winter high electricity demand period into 2017.[17][18] In December 2016 theWall Street Journal characterised the problem as a "decades long coverup of manufacturing problems", with Framatome executives acknowledging that Le Creusot had been falsifying documents.[19] Le Creusot Forge was out of operation from December 2015 to January 2018 while improvements to process controls, the quality management system, organisation and safety culture were made.[20]
In 2020 Framatome won an order to deliver reactor protection systems for the RussianVVER-TOI design nuclear reactors atKursk II.[21]
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.
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