Framatome’s Lionel Gaiffe during the inauguration ceremony of the new CERCA workshop in France. (Photo: Framatome)
Framatome announced that it has inaugurated a new workshop dedicated to the fabrication of fuel for research reactors and targets for medical isotopes at the company’s Romans-sur-Isère site in France. The workshops are part of Framatome’s CERCA division, which manufactures fuel and irradiation targets for research reactors.
According to the company, the CERCA workshops are organized around a “uranium zone,” where compacted powder is produced to form fuel elements and medical-use targets. The company decided to replace an existing uranium zone with a new uranium zone containing new equipment while bringing it up to the latest standards in nuclear safety and security.
The investment in the new uranium zone workshop will meet expected growth over the coming years, Framatome said, adding that CERCA has seen steady growth in manufacturing since its beginning in 1959. According to the company, more than 20,000 fuel elements have been manufactured by CERCA for research reactors across the globe, and 75 percent of the world’s technetium-99m scans are performed using medical targets produced by CERCA.
He said it: “We have leveraged over 65 years of experience to enhance processes in the new facility. Safety, security, environmental considerations, and the reliability of the installations were the primary focus,” said Lionel Gaiffe, senior executive vice president of Framatome’s Fuel Business Unit. “We can be proud of this new facility which will ensure the supply of fuel for research reactors and medical targets for our customers for decades to come.”