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CEZ to test use of Westinghouse fuel at Temelin-1

Friday, 3 August 2018

Czech utility ČEZ plans to test six Westinghouse fuel rods in unit 1 of the Temelín nuclear power plant as it seeks to diversify its fuel supply. Russia’s TVEL is currently the sole supplier of nuclear fuel to Temelín and Dukovany.

CEZ to test use of Westinghouse fuel at Temelin-1 — Temelin units 1 and 2 (Image: CEZ)

The country has six nuclear units at the Dukovany and Temelín sites with an installed capacity of 3924 MWe. Nuclear accounts nearly one-third of its electricity generation, but this is expected to rise to between 46% and 58% by 2040.

Temelín NPP spokesman, Marek Sviták, told World Nuclear News today six American fuel assemblies out of a total of 163 will be loaded into the unit next year for the purpose of the licensing process.

ČEZ will soon start using TVEL’s TVSA-t mod2 fuel at Temelín for the first time, in unit 2. This fuel is already fully licensed with Czech Authorities.

ČEZ is one of four companies involved in a project created in 2012 to achieve a zero-failure rate of nuclear fuel. The other three are TVEL, the Kozloduy nuclear power plant in Bulgaria and Ukrainian nuclear power plant operator Energoatom. The project assesses the processes of designing, manufacturing and operating nuclear fuel, and seeks ways to identify reasons for the failure of nuclear fuel used in VVER-1000 reactors.