On April 10, the new VAR furnace was inaugurated in the presence of government representatives, elected officials, partners from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and employees. The Ugine Framatome site (Fuel BU) is now equipped with an additional VAR (vacuum arc remelting) furnace and a new control cabin, allowing various site alloys to be melted using state-of-the-art equipment.
The VAR furnace is at the heart of the industrial plan for the Ugine Framatome site. It transforms zirconium sponge into semi-finished zirconium and titanium alloy products, such as billets, forged bars, and extruded blanks. The completion of this new VAR furnace and the new control building represented a major test, with significant challenges for the site and its employees.
The next phase of the project is now starting, with the lengthy qualification process for the equipment to allow the production of various alloys in line with very strict standards of industrial safety and quality. The incorporation of operating experience feedback from more than 50 years of operating melting furnaces has helped to obtain equipment at the cutting edge of this field, and the first tests have been completed successfully.
