AREVA to develop nuclear fuels with Swiss power plant operator

AREVA said on Wednesday that it has signed a multi-year contract to develop nuclear fuels with Gösgen, a Swiss nuclear plant operator.

The company said it is heavily involved with nuclear fuel research and programs in France, the U.S. and now Switzerland. This research is focused on the enhancement of resistance of fuel to extreme situations and accidents.

“AREVA is proud to contribute with its partners to the development of ever-safer fuels and to support the first loading of lead EATF cladding materials in a commercial reactor, in real pressurized water-reactor conditions," Alain Frichet, vice president of AREVA’s fuel products and technologies business line, said.

The company will begin supplying the Gösgen facility with test rods that contain cladding materials, with the top-performing materials likely to see mass commercialization by 2020. These materials were developed by Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA) in partnership with AREVA and EDF. Testing is set to occur in hot cells developed by the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) of Switzerland and the CEA.