GNF awarded Olkiluoto fuel supply contract

Wednesday, 14 November 2018

GNF announced yesterday that GNF Enusa Nuclear Fuel SA (Genusa) - its joint venture with Spain's Enusa Industrias Avanzadas - had been selected by TVO to supply fuel reloads for Olkiluoto units 1 and 2, both 880 MWe boiling water reactors (BWRs).

The contract - awarded following a competitive bid - runs from 2020 until 2038 and includes reloads of GNF2 fuel. GNF said that over the course of the contract, TVO and Genusa "expect to evaluate the suitability of future fuel designs to meet TVO's operational goals".

The fuel, utilising GNF-supplied components, will be fabricated by Enusa at its Juzbado nuclear fuel fabrication plant in Salamanca. The assemblies will incorporate the enhanced GNF2 spacer as well as the Defender PLUS debris filter, which GNF says "significantly improves the chances of stopping debris before it ever reaches the fuel assembly".

"TVO's experience using Genusa's fuel has been excellent, so I am pleased to see that the fuel has fulfilled our strict quality requirements again and we can revitalise the cooperation," said Marjo Mustonen, production manager and Senior Vice President of TVO. "Our goal is safe and undisturbed power operation of the plant, and this long-term contract helps us to achieve this important goal and also secures the fuel supply for nearly two decades."

Amir Vexler, CEO of GNF and president of the Genusa board of directors, added: "We fuelled the Olkiluoto reactors for several years and as we continue to evolve our products to further strengthen reliability and performance, we are pleased to provide fuel to TVO for many years to come."

Roberto Gonzalez Villegas, Director for Business Development and Technology at Enusa, and member of the Genusa board of directors, noted: "TVO was one of our first customers abroad and we are happy to see that we have obtained their confidence for a long collaboration."

In November 2014, Areva and Westinghouse were contracted by TVO to supply fuel for Olkiluoto 1 and 2, respectively, between 2016 and 2019. Under its contract, Areva supplied ATRIUM 10XM fuel assemblies for Olkiluoto 1. Westinghouse Electric Sweden supplied SVEA-96 Optima 3 fuel assemblies for Olkiluoto 2.

In May this year, Genusa was selected by Sweden's Vattenfall to supply fuel reloads for its Forsmark plant. That contract runs from 2020 to 2023 and includes four reloads each for the Forsmark units 1 and 2 BWRs.