Incremental burnup increases fuel utilization and reduces fuel cycle costs for U.S. utilities
Cranberry Township, Pa., August 15, 2024 - Westinghouse Electric Company received the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s approval for an increase in the burnup limit for the Westinghouse Encore® fuel designs. This allows better nuclear fuel efficiency, longer times between reactor refuels and lower operating costs.
Westinghouse engineers developing core designs with higher (or incremental) burnup, which brings value to utility customers.
United States Pressurized Water Reactors currently operate on 18-month fuel cycles, and this new higher burnup fuel will enable reductions in feed batch size, thereby improving fuel cycle economics. This is the first-time nuclear fuel batch reloads in the United States will be able to exceed a burnup limit of 62 GWd/MTU, paving the way for a future extension to benefit utilities to operate economically on 24-month fuel cycles.
“We are very pleased to receive approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for incremental burnup in our nuclear fuel,” said Tarik Choho, Westinghouse President of Nuclear Fuel. “This milestone marks the start of production of nuclear fuel with increased capacity for Pressurized Water Reactors, vastly improving fuel costs for U.S. utility customers.”
The incremental burnup approval represents a key milestone for the Encore® Accident Tolerant Fuel Program, an initiative started in 2012 and funded by the Department of Energy, aimed at increasing performance and safety of nuclear reactors in support of U.S. energy security and climate goals.
Westinghouse is a leading supplier of nuclear fuel, providing a uniquely diversified portfolio in the industry across nuclear reactor types, including PWR, BWR, AGR and VVER. Through our world-class manufacturing facilities in the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden, we focus on delivering innovative fuel technologies to meet our customer needs for lower fuel cycle costs, increased operational flexibility and efficiency, diversity of supply and accident-tolerant products. Westinghouse is creating a center of excellence for Low Enriched Uranium Plus (LEU+) fuel manufacturing in South Carolina to reduce the number of outages needed in nuclear plants. Learn more about our advanced fuel capabilities and how they relate to different reactors around the world: Westinghouse Nuclear > Nuclear Fuel
