Updated 11:56 a.m.

By Bryan Gentry
Lynchburg News & Advance

Denise Woernle, Areva’s director of corporate communications, said most of the new jobs in Lynchburg will be engineering positions paying $60,000 to $100,000 per year. Hiring will begin soon and will be complete within three years, she said.

To make room for the new positions, the company plans to expand its Old Forest Road facility, Woernle said.

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Original story 11:10 a.m.

Gov. Tim Kaine says AREVA NP Inc. will expand its U.S. headquarters, creating 500 new jobs for Lynchburg.

The company plans to invest $25 million for the expansion, and increase its existing engineering/nuclear service staff. AREVA believes it will receive orders for new nuclear reactors in the future.

Lynchburg beat out Charlotte, North Carolina for the expansion.

“It speaks volumes that AREVA NP considers Virginia home for its North American headquarters and continues to invest in its operations in the Lynchburg region,” said Governor Kaine in a news release. “The Commonwealth has major infrastructure to support the nuclear industry, in part due to AREVA’s long-standing history and commitment to the state. The 500 new jobs are in addition to the 2,000 AREVA employees already in Lynchburg who are a vital part of the vibrant, growing knowledge-based and high performance manufacturing economies found in Virginia.”

AREVA designs and builds nuclear power plants, research reactors, engineering, instrumentation and control, modernization maintenance and repair services, components manufacture, and supply of nuclear fuel according to the Governor’s office.

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