Global Nuclear Fuel’s (GNF’s) Japanese arm (GNF-J) has been awarded a contract by Chubu to provide mixed oxide (MOX) fuel for the utility’s Hamaoka 4 power reactor, a 1137MWe BWR.
Global Nuclear Fuel is a joint venture between General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba. GNF-J will lead the MOX fuel design and engineering, fuel component supply, quality oversight, programme management and licensing support activities for the project.
GNF-J will subcontract the production of MOX fuel pellets and a part of the fuel assembly fabrication to Commox, a French business consortium for marketing MOX fuel that is beneficially owned by Areva NC through its Cogema subsidiary (60%) and by Belgonnucleaire (40%).
The MOX will be fabricated in six production runs extending until 2020 and will make use of all the plutonium separated from Chubu’s spent nuclear fuel (SNF) reprocessed at Areva’s La Hague plant.
“GNF is deeply honored and excited to receive this landmark order for MOX fuel from Chubu,” said Jack Fuller, CEO of GNF. “We are pleased to continue our support of the Japanese utility industry’s focus on recycling fuel in the form of MOX. We look forward to working with Chubu to obtain its reactor establishment permit in order to implement the program for Hamaoka unit 4.” Chubu has applied to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for the required permit.
• Chubu have recently completed a shipment of SNF from the Hamaoka plant to Japan Nuclear Fuels’ receipt and storage facility near the port of port of Mutsu Ogawara. The Rokuei-maru vessel carried 152 BWR fuel assemblies (~27tU) from Hamaoka, picking up 96 BWR assemblies (~16tU) from Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi plant, and 152 more BWR assemblies (~26tU) from Fukushima Daini along the way. The SNF was carried in NFT-32B and NFT-38B containers.
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