Ceradyne said Thursday it completed two transactions related to its recently announced plans to enter into the manufacture and marketing of structural neutron absorbing materials.
The company completed the acquisition of an 86,000 square foot, first-class industrial facility in Chicoutimi, Quebec, Canada. The facility is equipped with a state-of-the-art 2,750 ton short-stroke aluminum extruder. Ceradyne also acquired a boron carbide/aluminum cladding product line known as Boral, as well as associated manufacturing equipment and inventory, from AAR Manufacturing, Inc., a subsidiary of AAR Corp.
Boral will be used as a neutron absorber in various nuclear waste containment structures. The company paid a total of $14.1 million for the facility, equipment, product line, and inventory acquired in the two transactions.
"We intend to manufacture boron carbide/aluminum metal matrix composites in our newly-acquired Canadian facility under an exclusive agreement between Ceradyne and Alcan Inc. announced June 8, 2006," said Joel Moskowitz, Ceradyne's chief executive officer. "We project that we will be in production late this summer, with the first half of 2007 targeted for full production of these nuclear waste containment materials."
Ceradyne develops and manufactures advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, automotive/diesel, and consumer applications.