Vallourec Gets Tube Orders for Nuclear Plants in France and Asia

These orders represent a year of workload for the Montbard fabrication plant in Burgundy, France, which strategically tripled its capacity two years ago.

Vallourec (Boulogne-Billancourt, France), a world leader in premium tubular fabrication solutions, announced that its subsidiary Valinox Nucléaire, which specializes in the fabrication of tubes for nuclear power plants, was awarded a number of significant orders at the end of 2012 that cumulatively amount to over a year’s workload for its Montbard plant in the Burgundy region of France.

Deliveries are scheduled from 2013 to 2015. When renovation of the French nuclear facilities first began, two earlier contracts were signed in February 2012, but Now Valinox Nucléaire has been awarded three more new contracts for the production of tubes for steam generators in 1,300 MW reactors, as part of the program to renovate the EDF nuclear facilities.

Vallourec’s subsidiary has also been awarded three contracts in the Asian market to supply tubes for two APR 1400 units in South Korea and one AP 1000 unit in China. Nicolas de Coignac, the managing director of Vallourec’s power business, said, “With these orders, Valinox Nucléaire confirms its position as the world leader in steam generator tubes. The decision we made in 2011 to invest in our Montbard plant, tripling its capacity, clearly makes sense. The orders also signify worldwide recognition of the excellence found across the entire French nuclear sector, united within the Burgundy Nuclear Partnership.”

These contracts came just as Valinox Nucléaire delivered tubes in December 2012 for the 400th steam generator in its history, totaling 37,000 km of tubes supplied in nearly 40 years. The fabricator currently employs 500 people at Montbard in Burgundy and will complete the construction of another plant in the Guangdong Province of China in mid-2013.

As a world leader in steam generator tubes designed for nuclear power plants, Valinox Nucléaire is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vallourec. In a steam generator, 1 mm thick nickel alloy tubes from Valinox Nucléaire enable thermal exchange between the pressurized water of the primary loop coming from the reactor and the steam of the secondary loop feeding the turbine.

The Burgundy Nuclear Partnership (PNB; Pôle Nucléaire Bourgogne) is a competitiveness cluster bringing together some 160 companies, laboratories and training organizations that was awarded an official label by the French state in July 2005. The PNB has been chaired by Vallourec since it was founded in 2005.

Vallourec has over 22,000 employees, integrated manufacturing facilities, advanced R&D and presence in more than 20 countries, offering its customers innovative global solutions to meet the growing energy challenges of the 21st century. www.vallourec.com