Westinghouse
Columbia Community

Westinghouse is Expanding in Richland County

Westinghouse Electric Company – the leading global supplier of safe and innovative nuclear technology – is pleased to announce an expansion of our operations in Hopkins, South Carolina.

The expansion within our existing 1,151-acre site will include construction of a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, incorporating the latest technologies emphasizing safety and sustainability to protect our people, our neighbors, and our beautiful environment. The expansion will create jobs, training and advancement opportunities for our current and future workforce and will provide safe, reliable fuel that the nation’s nuclear power plants need to continue to deliver around the clock clean energy.

Learn more about our plant, the fuel we manufacture, our expansion project and ongoing engagement with our local communities.

Our Operations

Westinghouse has a long history in South Carolina – dating back to the 1969. Today, our Columbia Fuel Fabrication Facility (CFFF) in Hopkins is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world.

The site currently houses fuel manufacturing facilities, engineering and testing laboratories – all supporting the creation of innovative products to help satisfy the country’s growing demand for clean, reliable electricity. This includes 550,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space.

We strive to be the industry's most responsive supplier of flawless, value-added fuel products and services. To do so, Westinghouse is committed to safety and quality while meeting customer needs and expectations. We also remain committed to being a good neighbor to the Lower Richland community. Learn more about our work in the community here.

Our Expansion Project

Our new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will fit within our current property-line. It will deliver even more safe and reliable fuel to the nation’s nuclear power plants to electrify a clean-energy future for South Carolina and the nation. The new building will be about 275,000-square-feet in size and manufacture more of the product we already produce: fuel assemblies.

Ways this project will support a cleaner and more sustainable environment:

  • Less liquid and gas effluents produced compared to our current operations
  • Energy efficient facility upgrades; use of energy efficient equipment and automation
  • Conservation landscaping, which are native plant gardens that provide habitats for wildlife, promote healthy air quality, conserve and clean water, and promote healthy soils
  • Commitment to no development on the 600+ acres on the southern property boundary

Construction activities are anticipated to begin in late 2025, with startup estimated in 2029.

South Carolina Leads the Way with Next-Generation of Fuel

Did You Know … ? Nuclear power plants produce about 20 percent of all the electricity generated in the U.S. About 10 percent of all U.S. electricity comes from nuclear fuel manufactured by Westinghouse at CFFF.

For more than 55 years, Westinghouse has provided innovative products from Hopkins to nuclear power plants in the U.S. This planned expansion will grow our portfolio to produce advanced fuel known as Low Enriched Uranium Plus fuel – more commonly called LEU+.

LEU+ Fuel Explained:

  • Electric Utility needs:
    • Electric utility companies around the U.S. are facing growing electricity demands from households and businesses.
    • Currently, nuclear power plants utilize our existing fuel assemblies to generate reliable electricity for the public and must replace these fuel assemblies every 18 months. This occurs in a process called a refueling outage, during which a nuclear power plant temporarily shuts down for a short period of time to replace a portion of its fuel assemblies.
    • With Westinghouse’s new and innovative LEU+ fuel, nuclear power plants can produce more carbon-free energy longer and more reliably by extending their refueling outages to 24 month-cycles. Additionally, LEU+ fuel can increase a nuclear power plant’s safety performance while operating at increased power levels.
  • The power of uranium:
    • Nuclear power plants use uranium to generate electricity. It’s full of energy! In fact, one small pellet of uranium – about the size of a thimble – contains the same energy equal to one ton of coal, 149 gallons of oil, or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas.
  • Uranium & LEU+ fuel:
    • At CFFF, we manufacture uranium fuel pellets and stack them into larger fuel assemblies that are used in nuclear power reactors to generate electricity for the country.
    • Now, we have created innovative processes to utilize fuel pellets with higher concentration levels of uranium than what is currently used in commercial power reactors. LEU+ will extend power reactor operations from 18 to 24-month cycles, which in turn will provide a more reliable and stable supply of electricity to the country and potentially lower electricity costs for consumers.

Learn More