[NukeNet] Alstom has pact to build 4 turbines in Chattanooga for UniStar

[Wild Clearing]

More news about Chattanooga, TN's, expanding nuclear ambitions ...
from the Chattanoga Times Free Press ...

Alstom has agreement to build four  turbines for UniStar at city plant

Saturday, December 15, 2007

By Mike Pare
Deputy Business Editor

Alstom Power, which this week unveiled plans for a $280 million  
facility in Chattanooga, already has a deal in hand to make four  
nuclear plant turbine generators at the site.

Alstom has an agreement with UniStar Nuclear Energy to supply at  
least four turbines for several advanced-design nuclear plants,  
according to the companies.

Lori A. Vidil, a spokeswoman for Baltimore-based UniStar, said  
building the turbines in Chattanooga fits with its desire to see more  
nuclear components made in America.

"It's a significant step toward UniStar's goal," she said. The  
company wants 70 percent to 80 percent of nuclear components and  
labor sourced in the United States, Ms. Vidil said. She declined to  
reveal the cost of the turbines.

Philippe Joubert, president of Alstom Power Systems, said in a  
statement the Paris-based company will allocate the resources to  
support UniStar's December 2015 target for completing its first  
nuclear power plant.

"As the world's largest supplier of nuclear turbine systems, we bring  
both experience and a history of innovation that made us the right  
partner at the right time," he said.

According to UniStar, a final decision to build the first of its  
nuclear units hasn't been made yet, but the agreement with Alstom  
positions it to begin ordering steam turbine generators next year.

A portion of Alstom's existing Riverfront Parkway site will house the  
new manufacturing facility where it will make steam and gas turbines  
for the nuclear and fossil power industries.

The site is the same one that, three decades ago, nearly 6,000  
workers were employed by Combustion Engineering making nuclear power  
plant components.

Alstom officials said its new division will start operations within  
two to three years in 350,000 square feet of space. Most of the 360  
new jobs will come on line in the six to nine months before  
operations begin, though small numbers will be brought on soon.

Tom Edd Wilson, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's chief  
executive, said the business group didn't take Alstom's existing site  
in the city for granted when it recruited the new project. Alstom's  
facility now focuses on replacement components for coal-fired plants.

Mr. Wilson said Chattanooga won the new project based on Alstom's  
assessment of the city's manufacturing experience and work force.

Joseph Vasile, an Alstom vice president, said in Chattanooga the  
company supplies 25 percent of the world's power generation equipment.

"Our objective is to build the most efficient, cleanest, integrated  
power system for our customers," he said.


Wes Rehberg
Wild Clearing
www.wildclearing.com
www.nonviolentways.org





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