TVEL offers modified fuel assemblies for Loviisa units

TVEL, Rosatom's nuclear fuel manufacturing subsidiary, has signed an agreement with Fortum Power and Heat Oy to supply modified nuclear fuel assemblies to be used at the Loviisa 1 and  2 VVER 440s in Finland. Rosatom said yesterday the agreement is in addition to TVEL's existing fuel supply contract with the Finnish utility.

TVEL, Rosatom's nuclear fuel manufacturing subsidiary, has signed an agreement with Fortum Power and Heat Oy to supply modified nuclear fuel assemblies to be used at the Loviisa 1 and  2 VVER-440s in Finland. Rosatom said yesterday the agreement is in addition to TVEL's existing fuel supply contract with the Finnish utility.

Loviisa units 1 and 2 (Image: Fortum)

According to the new agreement, TVEL will supply fuel assemblies with increased uranium capacity and an optimised water-uranium balance compared to assemblies currently used at the Loviisa plant. These assemblies will make the units more cost-efficient to operate, Rosatom said, adding that they are of similar design to those TVEL will supply to the Paks II plant under construction in Hungary.

The existing contract provides for the delivery of nuclear fuel to both Loviisa units until the end of their lifetime. The "second-generation uranium-gadolinium fuel" for VVER-440 reactors is manufactured by Moscow-based PJSC Mashinostroitelny Zavod, another Rosatom subsidiary.

"TVEL is continuously working on new designs and modifications of its nuclear fuel for its customers," Alexander Ugryumov, TVEL's vice president for scientific and technical activities, said in the Rosatom statement.

"The second modification of the second generation assemblies for the VVER-440 design, proposed for Loviisa NPP and for the Hungarian Paks NPP (the contract with the Hungarian customer was signed in November 2017), is based on the same technical solution, but the final fabrication of products and fuel supply design will differ in a number of ways, based on the individual requirements of our customers," he added.

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by World Nuclear News