Westinghouse Electric Company has announced the expansion of its nuclear fuel factory, situated in Vasteras, Sweden, in response to growing demand for nuclear fuel supply diversification for VVER-1000 reactors in Ukraine and other European countries.
“The investment finances additional production facilities, fuel engineering work, as well as the procurement of additional process and assembly equipment for manufacturing the fuel,” Westinghouse said in a press release on Thursday.
The company did not disclose the cost of the project. The company told Interfax-Ukraine that this is a multi-million investment if it is measured in U.S. dollars.
The new facilities were officially inaugurated by Westinghouse senior vice president for Nuclear Fuel and Components Manufacturing Jose Emeterio Gutierrez in the presence of representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy in Sweden.
“The growing demand for nuclear fuel underscores the importance of uninterrupted availability of low-carbon energy sources at an affordable price,” Gutierrez said.
Westinghouse said that in 2016 Westinghouse will deliver five reloads to the Yuzhnoukrainsk and Zaporizhia nuclear power plants. In December 2014 Westinghouse and Energoatom, Ukraine’s nuclear power plant operator, completed a fuel supply contract extension for its VVER-1000 reactors.
The company said that numerous inspections in Ukraine have demonstrated that Westinghouse fuel performs safely and efficiently and to specification in Energoatom’s reactors. (interfax.com.ua)