United Steelworkers (USW) said yesterday that its international president, Leo Gerard, had written to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission raising concerns about the country’s capability to produce component parts that will be needed by new nuclear plants.

Mr Gerard said encouraging domestic production rather than seeking imports was particularly important in cases where federal loan guarantees are given to new-build projects. The USW said the majority of the materials used in building nuclear plants such as steel and piping can be sourced from domestic facilities employing its members.

The USW represents workers at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding in Newport News, in the state of Virginia, where nuclear aircraft carriers and submarines are built and where a joint venture between Newport News and Areva was announced in 2009.

Construction began last year at the site of the Newport News heavy components manufacturing facility, in the state of Virginia, for nuclear plants in the US. The facility is being built by a joint venture of the Areva group and Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding – ‘Areva Newport News’. It will manufacture heavy components for future US Evolutionary Power Reactors in the US and other EPR projects worldwide.