Luvata in Waterbury awarded $26 million by Department of Energy

Republican American l Marc Silvestrini

Luvata, an international metals manufacturing company that occupies a 250,000-square-foot section of the former Chase Brass & Copper Co. in Waterbury, has been awarded a $26 million nuclear fusion contract from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Luvata will supply materials for the world's largest nuclear fusion experiment, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or ITER, project, which is being built in southern France by a partnership that includes the United States, China, the European Union, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation.

Under the contract, Luvata over the next two years will supply 86 percent of the U.S. commitment of superconductive wire and copper wire needed to complete the project.

The ITER project's goal is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of using fusion to create vast amounts of heat that can be harnessed to generate carbon-free electricity.