Westinghouse fuel loaded into Loviisa reactor

Monday, 2 September 2024

In November 2022, Finnish utility Fortum signed an agreement with Westinghouse for the design, approval and delivery of a new type of fuel to the Loviisa plant. The agreement built on the successful collaboration supplying fuel to Loviisa from 2001 to 2007, during which Westinghouse delivered nearly 750 VVER-440 fuel assemblies.

During the annual maintenance in 2023, one experimental element manufactured by Westinghouse, which did not contain actual uranium pellets, was loaded into Loviisa unit 2. During this year's annual maintenance, it was found that the test element worked as expected and fuel assemblies of the new design were subsequently loaded into the unit's core.

"The loading of the new fuel is a key diversification milestone for Fortum that guarantees a dependable Western alternative for fuel supply in Finland," Westinghouse said.

In February 2023, the Finnish government granted Fortum an extension to the operating licence for the two-unit Loviisa nuclear power plant, allowing the plant to continue generating power until the end of 2050.

The fuel contract with Rosatom's TVEL fuel company is valid until the end of the current licences, in 2027 and 2030.

Fortum said the contract with Westinghouse and the fresh fuel in stock ensure Loviisa's fuel supply until the procurement of fuels is put out to tender as part of the plant's life extension. The prerequisite for competition is the availability of alternative fuel suppliers, it noted.

"The safe and reliable operation of the Loviisa nuclear power plant is crucial for Finland's security of supply," said Petra Lundström, Fortum's head of nuclear power operations. "Our customers also depend on the stable and clean electricity that we produce in Loviisa with high availability. Diversifying the power plant's fuel supplies has indeed been a key project for us over the past two years, and we are happy that we have achieved this a significant milestone together with Westinghouse."

"We are very proud of our more than 50-year partnership in the Nordic countries, where we have worked together to produce clean electricity with nuclear power," said Tarik Choho, director of Westinghouse's nuclear fuel business. "Our solid experience as the only western supplier of VVER fuel, combined with our strong presence in the region thanks to Swedish production, supports Fortum's long-term operational goals."

The Loviisa plant - comprising two VVER-440 type pressurised water reactors - was the first nuclear power plant in Finland and currently provides more than 10% of the country's electricity. Loviisa unit 1 began commercial operation in 1977, with unit 2 following in 1981.

Nineteen VVER reactors - developed during the time of the Soviet Union and historically reliant on Russian fuel supplies - are currently in operation in the European Union, including four VVER-1000 reactors in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, and 15 VVER-440 reactors in the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary and Slovakia.

Finland is one of a number of countries in the EU who are in the process of switching away from Russian-supplied fuel for their nuclear reactors.