Construction will begin soon on the first production module of a new wafer fabrication facility in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and the plant will make 80386 microprocessors and other CHMOS parts using 6 wafers, Intel Corp reports from Santa Clara, California. The company recalls that its 600,000 square foot Fab 9 was begun in 1984, and structurally completed in mid-1986, but left unoccupied and unequipped awaiting increased demand. Intel plans to complete the first of four25,000 square foot clean room modules and begin production in the second quarter of 1988. Administrative space required for the fabs will also be completed. Projected cost for the first phase is $50m. Fab 9 will be Intel’s second wafer fab in Rio Rancho, a suburb of Alburquerque; Fab 7 opened in 1983.
