Jul. 31--A Lynchburg manufacturing plant is getting a windfall from nuclear power expansion.

Flowserve Corporation, based in Dallas, Texas, announced Thursday that it has a $45 million contract to make valves and other flow control devices for nuclear reactors that Westinghouse is building.

Flowserve's manufacturing plant on Woodall Road in Lynchburg, which employs about 250 people, will fill some of the order, said Lars Rosene, spokesman for the company. Its plant in Raleigh, N.C., also will work on the project.

It is not known whether the Lynchburg facility will need more workers to fill the order. Rosene said in an e-mail that staffing would be reviewed as the company develops a project management plan for the order.

According to a news release from Flowserve, the company will supply "critical safety-related valves, electric motor actuators, and non-safety-related control, ball and plug valves" for two Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plants being built in the Southeast.

Six electric utilities have asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to build a total of seven AP1000 reactors. The NRC certified Westinghouse's AP1000 design in 2006.

Westinghouse is a competitor of Lynchburg employers Areva NP, which is working to deploy its U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor, and Babcock & Wilcox, which has begun efforts to design and certify its mPower Reactor. They are among a number of companies racing to meet the country's demand for electricity by building the first U.S. nuclear power plant in decades.

The nuclear industry has been a longtime customer of Flowserve's flow control division, which makes valves, pumps, seals and related products.

"As nuclear becomes an increasingly important means of power generation in the United States and around the world, Flowserve's expertise, global presence and network of Quick Response Centers allow us to meet our customers' needs, especially for safety related valve and actuator applications," said Tom Pajonas, president of Flowserve's flow control division, in a news release.

In 2002, Flowserve purchased the Lynchburg plant, which had been known as Limitorque and had operated in Lynchburg since 1949.

On Wednesday, Flowserve reported net earnings of $1.92 per share for the second quarter. Its stock closed at $80.72, up $8.53.

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