Areva has signed a $500-million integrated fuel supply contract with US utility Xcel Energy to supply the Monticello nuclear power plant in Minnesota. Monticello is a General Electric BWR-3 design with a current output of 613 MW.
The contract covers uranium, conversion, enrichment, fuel design and fabrication, and related engineering services. Areva will supply six fuel reloads, or ten year’s fuel supply, with deliveries beginning in 2015.
The contract includes transition of the Monticello plant to use Areva’s ATRIUMTM 10XM boiling water reactor fuel. This will be the first time that Xcel Energy will use Areva fuel in its plants. In addition to the Monticello plant, Xcel energy also operates Prairie Island 1&2, a two 548 MW pressurized water reactor located near Red Wing, Minnesota.
Dennis Koehl, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer for Xcel Energy, said: “This contract represents the start of a productive working relationship between Areva and Xcel Energy, one we believe will benefit our customers by controlling fuel costs,” Koehl said.
This is the first integrated fuel supply contract to be awarded in the States for several decades.
FilesTEPCO cause-and-effect diagram Reactor-by-reactor Fukushima Daiichi restoration progress summary as of 6 January, from JAIF TEPCO interim report (in English)
