Advances in BWR fuel development
By Sture Helmersson, Westinghouse Atom, Sweden

BWR fuel must meet the demands utilities experience from their deregulated electricity markets. Improved performance on the part of the fuel and the core represents one of many decisive success factors in these markets if it is used to:

increase plant output with small investments and marginally increased fuel costs;
increase in burnup to utilize fuel investments better while reducing waste amounts;
lengthen operating cycles to boost the capacity factor and reduce shutdown costs;
meet the demand for flexibility, i.e. that the operation of the power plant can be quickly rescheduled to meet the needs of a changing electricity market;
improve fuel performance without compromising top-level reliability – otherwise any improved performance would be pointless.
The deregulation of electricity markets in many countries has added further importance to such basic requirements, but it has also added a need for flexibility in cycle planning and operation. Fast response to changes is vital in any market.

Download this feature [PDF format: 127 kB]

back

Operational experience on advanced VVER-440 fuel assemblies at Loviisa NPP
By Mikko Pihlatie, Fortum Engineering, Finland

This year, Loviisa’s two VVER-440 units are entering into a new era as far as the reactor fuel is concerned. After more than twenty years of experience with Russian fuel, supplied by joint stock company TVEL (and its predecessors) and manufactured by JSC Mashinos-troitelny Zavod (Elemash), a new fuel vendor has emerged.

This year, BNFL is to deliver the first ever reload of Western-manufactured fuel to one unit in Loviisa, although the fuel to the other unit is still supplied by TVEL. Poolside inspection programs have been initiated for five BNFL and six TVEL lead test assemblies (LTA) of new or advanced designs.

Download this feature [PDF format: 52 kB]

back

French research and development in nuclear fuel reprocessing
By Noël Camarcat and Patrick Ledermann, CEA, France

The Purex process used at Marcoule and La Hague since the mid sixties chemically separates plutonium and uranium from fission products in irradiated fuel assemblies by use of solvent extraction. It is therefore a mature industrial process that is important to the back end of the fuel cycle. With the completion of this heavy investment phase, research emphasis has shifted away from the core of the Purex process toward processes for liquid waste management and waste conditioning. Cogema and CEA also propose to apply the best processing/recycling technologies and associated R&D to international projects such as the treatment and vitrification of high-volume liquid wastes or MOX fuel fabrication.

Download this feature [PDF format: 74 kB]

back

Successfully managing a nuclear fuel business
By Bernard Estève, Ralf Güldner and Robert Hoffman, Framatome ANP

The formation of Framatome ANP (Advanced Nuclear Power) in January 2001 was a significant event in the nuclear power industry. The joint venture between Framatome and Siemens (Framatome holding a 66%, Siemens holding a 34% stake in the company), with corporate headquarters in Paris, France, combines the competencies and strengths of both companies as a logical continuation of successful efforts undertaken by both partners over the past years.

Among Framatome strengths are complete PWR capabilities, heavy equipment manufacturing, nuclear services business in the US, and experience with supplying plants in South Africa, Korea, and China. Alongside this, Siemens controls turnkey construction of complete nuclear power plants, complete BWR and PWR capabilities, comprehensive I&C capabilities, expertise and knowledge of VVER and a complementary geographical presence.

Download this feature [PDF format: 46 kB]

back

Fuel and core design experiences at Cofrentes NPP
By Luis García Delgado and Maria Teresa López Carbonell, Iberdrola, Spain

Spanish utility Iberdrola has developed an in-house core management methodology – the Giralda methodology – which has been approved by the Spanish Nuclear Regulatory Authority (CSN) for reload design and licensing of Cofrentes BWR. As a result, Iberdrola has acquired the capability of promoting competition between fuel vendors, therefore getting improved fuel designs and lower fuel costs, which are the key to remaining competitive in an increasingly deregulated electricity market.

Furthermore, the connection between licensing activities and operation experiences is generating synergies with benefits in plant knowledge and safety.

Download this feature [PDF format: 37 kB]

back

Innovation vs standardization in nuclear fuel: risks and opportunities
By Juan M. Álvarez and Luis Rebollo, Union Fenosa Generacion, Spain

In the new framework of electricity generation, nuclear power plants are operated under the pressure of increasing competition required by the deregulation and liberalization of the changing market. In this framework, nuclear power will increasingly succeed or fail as a function of its relative competitiveness, and the reduction of costs is becoming a factor that is forcing utilities to develop new business strategies.

Download this feature [PDF format: 35 kB]

back

Proposing guidelines for reliable nuclear fuel
By John Harbottle and Hans-Urs Zwicky, Stoller Nuclear Fuel, UK

Reliable fuel is defined as an assembly that fulfills the following conditions:

• it meets its functional specifications;
  

• experiences no mechanical failure;
  has no adverse impact on expected plant operation (including safety) and,

• has a capacity to function with quantifiable margins to design and operational limits.

The obligation to meet these conditions is shared between the fuel supplier and the utility user in an integrated manner.