Framatome and Xcel Energy recently signed a contract for the supply of PROtect enhanced accident tolerant fuel (EATF) technology and ATRIUM 11 fuel for the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant in Monticello, Minnesota.
In another significant boost to commercial deployment of accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) at existing nuclear reactors, the first 18-month fuel cycle test of Framatome’s GAIA Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel (EATF) at Southern Co.’s Vogtle 2 has “demonstrated expected results and excellent performance,” Framatome said on Feb. 2.
Framatome’s GAIA Enhanced Accident Tolerant Fuel (EATF) technology recently completed its first 18-month fuel cycle at a nuclear power plant in the United States. This milestone marks the first time a full-length EATF concept with both pellets and cladding completed a fuel cycle in a reactor.
Koroush Shirvan isn’t a zoologist, but he’s well acquainted with moose, bison, cobras, and falcons, to name a few. Like anyone working in the world of advanced research on nuclear power, this assistant professor in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Nuclear Science & Engineering department deals daily in initialisms and acronyms, which for Shirvan include MOOSE, BISON, COBRA, FALCON, and dozens more.
Ask Dr. Tatiana Ivanova, a long-time nuclear engineer and head of the Nuclear Science division at Paris-based intergovernmental organization Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), why so much activity is ongoing to transform nuclear fuel — and her answer is simple: “It is the principal part of nuclear power plants.” Fuel design optimization is “a cornerstone for the industry to deploy new, modern fuel for light-water reactors [LWRs], advanced reactors, and small modular reactors,” she said.