Creusot
Framatome le Creusot
Le Creusot (Saône-et-Loire, France) is one of the world’s few forges capable of producing the large parts required to manufacture the nuclear island’s primary components. Since the launch of France’s civil nuclear program, the plant has delivered nearly 3,000 forgings and castings for the reactor coolant system used in nuclear facilities around the world.
The plant carries out forging, heat treatment and machining prior to the assembly of the primary reactor loop components.
The Creusot Forge manufacturing base consists of:
A foundry
A forge with two presses and a 200 metric ton manipulator
Two machining workshops: 12 vertical lathes and 3 horizontal lathes
A workshop for cutting samples
A mechanical testing and chemical analysis laboratory
14 furnaces that can accommodate parts up to 600 metric tons for assembly at temperatures up to 1,300°C
Framatome forge raises replacement parts production
Framatome has ramped up production of replacement component parts at its manufacturing plant located at Le Creusot, France. On 28 October, forging operations began on the first shell that will be used for the fabrication of replacement steam generators for the French nuclear fleet.
*https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Framatome-forge-raises-replacement-parts-productio
Image photography
By Viktor Macha in 2005.
Plant facts and figures
The plant have an annual capacity of 150000 tons.
The following processes are conducted in the plant:
- Foundry
- Forge
This plant produces the following type of products:
- Castings
- Forgings
Full description
“Royal Foundry”, one of the oldest french ironworks were founded in 1782. In 1836 the plant was taken over by brothers Adolphe and Eugene Schneider and the works were significantly expanded by special steel castings for rail, military and machine industry.
In 1876 the world´s largest steam hammer (100t) was installed here.
Until 1920 the mill was giving jobs to more than 2,000 employees. There were blast furnaces, open-hearth steel shop, rolling mills, forges and foundry in operation.
The blast furnaces were shutdown for good in 1940.
Since 1949 the mills in Le Creusot were named “Société des Forges et Ateliers du Creusot (SFAC)”. SFAC joined the “Cie. Des Ateliers et Forges de la Loire “to form” Creusot-Loire Industries ” in 1970. However, this formation led into bankruptcy and mill was taken over by USINOR in 1984. Four years later, the Le Creusot plant was merged with belgian company “Fabrique de Fer de Charleroi”, and brand Industeel was born.
Today the plant runs one 100 t electric arc furnace, a foundry and heavy plate mill.
The forging and mechanical division were part of SFAR Steel until 2006 when AREVA, the world-leading company in nuclear power plant equipment, taken over the production in Le Creusot.
The works are known as FRAMATOME since 2018