Westinghouse will supply fuel assemblies for the Dukovani Nuclear Power Plant (CEZ).
Czech power company CEZ said it is preparing to supply nuclear fuel from the US Westinghouse Electric Company as part of its fuel diversification strategy. By the end of the year, the first batch of Westinghouse electric fuel assemblies will arrive in Dukovani. Temerin CEZ spokesman Marek Sviták said that the delivery of Temerin is scheduled to take place in a few months. "Diversification of fuels** is one of the key steps in strengthening the energy security of the Czech Republic. At the same time, the expected fuel will make it possible to extend the fuel campaign of all nuclear power plants in the Czech Republic. ”
The Dukovani plant currently has four VVER-440 units in operation, which began operating from 1985 to 1987. Temelin has two VVER-1000 units in operation, which began operating from 2000 to 2002.
In 2018, CEZ started the process of diversifying fuel merchants in line with EU policy through tenders. Previously, fuel was supplied by the Russian fuel company TveL. CEZ still has some TVEL fuel assemblies for use at the two nuclear power plants, including at least a year's worth of fuel from Dukovani.
In 2022, a contract was signed with Westinghouse and Framatome for the Tamelin VVER-1000 unit. In 2022, CEZ also decided to increase fuel reserves at nuclear power plants in order to improve energy security. Bohdan Zronek, head of CEZ's nuclear energy division, said the company is currently completing the expansion of the Dukovani storage space, with the goal of maintaining it for at least three years.
In 2019, six Westinghouse test fuel assemblies were inserted into the core of the Temelín 1 reactor to verify their performance, and the results are currently being evaluated by experts from Westinghouse Electric and CEZ.
From 2002 to 2009, Temerin used Westinghouse fuel, but due to technical problems such as fuel deformation and incomplete rod insertion, Tvel was selected as the fuel supplier. TVEL won a tender for a 10-year fuel** contract in 2006 and deliveries began in 2009. The original plan was to phase out TVEL fuel, but in 2009, CEZ decided to switch to TVEL fuel immediately in 2010, and the remaining Westinghouse electric fuel was removed. Following similar problems in Ukraine, Westinghouse then redesigned the VVER-1000 fuel.
However, Westinghouse has only recently designed fuel for the VVER-440 reactor, which is currently being tested at the Rivne nuclear power plant in Ukraine. For Dukovani, Westinghouse will use fuel based on the Rivne design, CEZ said.
"We have placed more than 1,500 fuel assemblies for the VVER-1000 reactor**, which have been operationally validated without any issues and are in line with expectations," said Tarik Choho, president of Westinghouse Nuclear Fuels. We plan to bring the latest version to Dukovany, which is based on the fuel assemblies designed for the VVER-440 reactor, which is already in service with the Rivne nuclear power plant in Ukraine. We are confident that it will be just as successful. ”
CEZ noted that both existing fuels (TVEL) and new fuels (Famatome and Westinghouse) meet the requirements for switching to longer fuel cycles. Of these, 16 months in Dukovany and 18 months in Temelín. As a result, CEZ expects to produce an average of 32 TWh per year by 2030.