Ceradyne Entering the Nuclear Age (CRDN)

We have written about Watch List member Ceradyne’s (CRDN) balancing act as growth in body armor sales, which have accounted for most of its recent revenue slow down at best, and possibly decline. We noted the need to expand into new areas, and noted that the nuclear waste containment business could be such an outlet when the deal was first announced.

The company is moving forward much faster, and investing much more, than we had originally expected. It looks as though the technology has promise, and with energy prices fueling a renewed interest in nuclear power they may be on to something.

Yahoo reports that:

Ceradyne Inc. plans to manufacture nuclear waste containment materials and it spent $14.1 million on an industrial facility, a new product line and manufacturing equipment for the project, the company said Thursday.

The company intends to manufacture the nuclear waster containment materials under an agreement with Alcan Inc., a Canadian aluminum producer, as part of the company’s diversification strategy.

In its first transaction, Ceradyne bought an 86,000-square-foot facility in Quebec, Canada. In a seperate purchase, the company bought a boron carbide and aluminum cladding product line called Boral, along with manufacturing equipment and inventory from AAR Manufacturing Inc.

CRDN 1-yr chart: