Roanoke/New River Big Deal: Framatome expands for a small modular future

The future is small, modular and very bright, according to Framatome, the nuclear energy company that is one of Lynchburg’s largest employers.

A presence in the city since the 1980s, Framatome broke ground in April 2024 on a $49.4 million, multi-year expansion and renovation at its Mill Ridge Road facility, one of the company’s two locations in the city. The North American subsidiary of the French nuclear equipment, services and fuel producer, Framatome has a third site nearby in Campbell County.

Along with the expansion, Framatome plans to hire 515 workers, adding to about 1,250 employees it already has around Lynchburg.

“It’s a transformational project for the city,” says Marjette Upshur, Lynchburg’s director of economic development.

The Lynchburg expansion is part of Framatome’s preparation for what it hopes is nuclear power’s next major growth area: small modular reactors, or SMRs. Quicker and cheaper to construct than the larger, standard reactors, SMRs are widely heralded as an answer to ever-growing demands for electricity and a key to decarbonization.

One hiccup: No power-generating SMRs have yet been built in the United States, although construction began in July 2024 on a demonstration reactor in Tennessee.

Even so, Dominique Grandemange, vice president of operational support for Framatome’s installed base business unit in North America, says he expects a wave of SMRs around 2030. In October 2024, Amazon.com and Dominion Energy Virginia entered into an agreement to explore potential development of SMRs at the North Anna Power Plant in Louisa County, and Appalachian Power said in November 2024 it plans to build an SMR in Campbell County.

Framatome, which provides maintenance services for nuclear power plants, sends teams to help maintain nuclear plants for months at a time, usually in the spring and fall, off-peak seasons for power generation. The Lynchburg expansion is part of Framatome’s plan to ready a corps of technicians who will be ready to service the new plants. The expansion will include a replica SMR where technicians can train and test equipment.

“This is going to be very unique for the SMR market,” Grandemange says. “This is really going to position Framatome well.”

Besides the SMR training center, Framatome’s expansion includes a new two-story office building and major renovations to the present facility. The company hopes to finish the new building in the second quarter of 2025 for a June move-in.

After workers shift to the new building, the existing offices, built in the early 1990s, are to be overhauled with new HVAC, a new roof, and other changes. The renovation could be finished in mid-2028, Grandemange says.

By the end of 2024, about 200 people had been hired, according to Grandemange. The new ranks include technicians and engineers who will be based in Lynchburg but sent to nuclear plants for stints of about three months at a time. About 90% of the new hires probably will go to plants in the United States, while others could be sent to Canada, South Africa, South Korea, and countries in Europe — for certain specialized tasks, even France, Framatome’s home country, Grandemange says.

For some new hires, training will include classes at Central Virginia Community College, which recently revised the training program it has run with Framatome for years. After 25 years of being restricted to Framatome workers, the college program opened in 2023 to all students.

The community college now offers an associate’s degree in nuclear technology. Framatome usually sends 15 employees to the college each semester, covering tuition and other costs while also paying full-time wages and benefits for the workers to take classes.

After a semester in the classroom, the Framatome employees return to regular duties, then come to school again the next year.

With a semester on, then a semester off, it takes Framatome workers four years to earn a degree, according to Marcella Gale, CVCC’s mechatronics faculty and program head. That’s faster than the typical student in the program, who studies around full-time work and, on average, needs six years to finish, Gale says.

Recently, the company had 128 applicants for its 15 class spots, according to Gale. A Framatome technician who graduates from the community college program will have a minimum pay rate of $28 per hour, according to a company spokesperson.

Framatome has had numerous applications for jobs tied to the Lynchburg expansion, according to Grandemange. “We are enjoying every moment of this growth.”