Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF) has been awarded a $100 million contract to provide fuel reloads for the Cooper Nuclear Station. The contract runs until January 2034, when the plant's operating licence is due to expire.
The contract between Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), which owns the 810MW Cooper boiling water reactor, and GNF, covers nine reloads of GNF2 fuel assemblies.
The fuel will be fabricated at GNF's facility in Wilmington, North Carolina.
GNF, a joint venture of GE, Hitachi, Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation has been supplying fuel to Cooper since it was set up in 2000. Prior to that fuel was provided by GNF's predecessor, the nuclear fuel division of GE Nuclear.
"Our support of Cooper spans more than four decades and this contract means we will provide the plant with fuel to operate across a 60-year lifespan," said Kevin Walsh, CEO of GNF and senior vice president, Nuclear Services and Fuels for GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. "We look forward to continuing this relationship and helping Cooper maximise power generation with our efficient, industry-leading GNF2 fuel assembly."
In June 2014, NPPD awarded a contract to GE Hitachi to provide a full suite of outage and inspection services at Cooper for six outages through 2024.
Photo: Cooper Nuclear Station (Credit: NPPD)
